Manipulated Souls
by Phobbers
Summary: What if Snape was the one to take Harry away on that fateful Halloween night? What if Dumbledore was a manipulative old coot? What happens when the boundaries between dark and light are blurred? (Warning: Swearing, Dumbledore bashing and some spoilers)
1. Chapter 1

A sombre man walked down the Potter's path up to their front door. Each step pulled down by the weight of emotion and the pessimistic scenarios he was imagining, each becoming worse than the last. The walkway was surrounded by a beautiful array of colours yet the impending white of the single calla-lily drew his attention as he drudged towards the typical suburban door belonging to his best friend and his childhood tormentor. As he pushed the door open with little effort he knew that the worst scenario had happened. The once lively home of the Potter's was now the sombre house containing the corpses of the two people who had formed his personality and character.

Entering the house was no easy feat. Our protagonist was met with bitter confirmation as he saw the blue body of his childhood tormentor but also the body of the man who he had trusted above all others to keep her safe. He had trusted him more than himself even which was not easy due to the lack of trust and fond memories between the two. Without even stopping at the man's side to close his eyelids, he rushed upstairs in no more than four bounds each less graceful than the less due to his immense emotion affecting his centre of gravity. The only thing that broke him from this depressed mindset was the wailing of a lone child. Being too shocked to comprehend that this was of course Lily and James Potter's son, he rushed towards the noise and came face to face with the saddened, green eyes of his best friend, Lily. At this he broke down onto his knees and wept for lost time. No more could they talk about meeting up like they used to in their old town in Yorkshire, no more could they talk about their family and no more would he hear the soft twinkling of her laugh or the craziness and intelligence in which those green eyes held. After an hour of mourning he returned focus to Lily's only son, Harry.

For minutes he only stared at the boy, not knowing what to do as, even though he was a teacher, he had never been given the responsibility like this before. Staring at the boy, he hungrily absorbed his appearance, he was the spitting image of James yet his eyes bore Lily's soul and colour. Even in a situation like this he could not resist those eyes as he timidly walked up to the child and swept him up in his arms and began to sing the only lullaby he remembered from his past. Whilst entranced in the song he noticed Lily's journals and what seemed to be Harry's toys so as soon as Harry dozed off, after being positioned away from the sight of the out reached hand of his mother's corpse, he set to work charming one of his inside cloak pockets with _capacious extremis_ and began to pack several things into his pocket including the journals, several of Harry's toys and a couple of photos.

After he had said one last goodbye to his deceased best friend, he had to flee as being spotted at the scene of an unforgivable curse crying over a corpse was not the best next step for the man who had decided to take this child on, knowing in that split second what _The Daily Prophet_ , the ministry of Magic and Dumbledore would do/force upon the child. With that he glamoured his wizarding clothes to look like ordinary muggle clothes and sheared of his loose black locks as to pass as this child's relative so that he could pass undetected to the now gathering crowds of muggles and fellow wizarding folk. He then scooped Harry up into a bundle in his arms and walked back the way he come, careful to shield the child's eyes to the corpses of his parents who seemed to be staring at this man, questioning the audacity of his actions as not only was he removing their child for the somewhat planned future they had for him but that he also refused to shut his eyes from seeing the grief of many more people.

The man who was once known as Severus Snape left that night taking the child with him. Bluntly ignoring the call of the man he spied on and the man who employed him to spy to fulfil their own delirious fantasies. He walked away from that house leaving his old life behind but also covering himself by fulling his grief to make an identical copy of himself to send back to Hogwarts to cover him but also to spy on a greedy old man who was the cause of all this upset. With that he walked away from his old life muttering sweet nothings to soothe Harry once more, making silents promises of, "Always." to Lily.

He had walked away to the sound of a motorcycle landing and a half giant tearfully walking up the path to see his dear friends dead, just had he but this half-giant had equal amounts of fond memories and forced memories to which he grieved until he found the child he'd been sent to receive, stolen and a copied colleague crying over a course rambling on about Voldemort taking the child to raise as an ally due to Lily's new-found magic. This of course was just ramblings made up on the spot, probably to try and make taking her journals seem credulous however, this seemed to be truer than he had ever thought to comprehend.

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Later that evening, Dumbledore sat in his office and used Hagrid's memories in the pensive to figure out what had happened to that child. He knew for a fact that Voldemort was gone, at least for now, because he had planned for that. The child was supposed to be brought up by his aunt and uncle as Dumbledore's influence made them more… 'temperamental' to magic and would encourage Harry to be raised into a more docile child, just like Neville would be raised in his new and improved environment giving Dumbledore full control over a fake prophecy but more importantly the wizarding world. He decided to send out the story of 'The Boy Who Lived' and planned for Harry's reappearance and how he could modify any personality traits that he didn't like. Luckily Dumbledore knew the perfect place and person for this job and they were right under their thumb.

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 **A/N: Being made to upload this... IntinitytimesInfinity8... What do you think? Should I upload more?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the good reactions and no bad reviews! It was great and has convinced me to carry on posting this story. I am trying to update at least one chapter a week.**

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After several hours of using muggle transportation, Snape reached his goal. His now empty, and much friendlier for it, childhood home. In stubbornness, he had hidden it from other wizarding folk as he, just like any other teacher, had no desire to meet pupils other teachers outside of school. He entered into his now crisp front garden and headed towards the simple black door in front of him. As he was gently manoeuvring Harry, he realised how far this house had come from the days of his childhood. When he was a child, this house had looked neat and clean but anyone who took a closer look would see all the cracks in this façade due to the struggles of an unhappy and scarred housewife. Not trusting himself on this mental path, Snape shut these memories out with a little help from his _occulmancy_ skills and set back to the child at hand. Still not at ease and growing impatient at not being able to find his keys, he whispered _alohamora_ and walked into the not so noble, house of Snape.

Any visitor, other than the stirring child in his arms, would drink in the features of the Snape residence but also would be gob-smacked at the lack of dire colours he had decorated with. Each room although quite darkly painted, had a burst of warmth from the houses vintage fireplaces but also from his best friend… recently deceased best friends help. When Lily was pregnant she often escape for weekends from a fretting James to come and decorate Severus' house while he was working at Hogwarts, she had asked, once… But once Lily had an idea in mind, there was no stopping her!

The hall way was painted a deep emerald with the bottom third of the wall painted in an earthly brown for a border, and to mask the mud that so often came off of his boots. The top two thirds had a delicate pattern intricately painted on to give a burst of light in the hall way and to help the photos she had hung become more visible. As he walked further into his house, he passed more rooms that Lily had attacked with a paint brush the most notable was the front room. Whilst he was at Hogwarts, Lily had painted the room a lush plum colour and lightened the fireplace up by painting it so it was white again, this made it stands out and feel more homely. But the job he was happiest with her doing was smoothing the walls out so they no longer bore his fathers marks or his photographs. She had managed to erase his existence in that house which had ultimately allowed him to relax in that house to the point he was able to sleep on the sofa without reliving any sort of trauma. The bit he wasn't sure about her renovating was the corner of the front room he was now looking at. When his excuse for a father had been alive, he had wall papered over that corner as he deemed Severus too old to enjoy his mother's drawings. That corner had been where he was looked after as a babe. Whilst his own mother had been pregnant, she had painted the walls with animals (from both worlds) and detailed nursery rhymes on the wall. His father had wall papered over that as soon as Severus had moved out of that corner but Lily, with her mundane magic, had redone the corner and re-breathed his mother's life through the wall and now her own for her own son to briefly sleep there.

Harry, now fully awake, stared at Snape, questioning him over all. It was as if he knew this man would not be able to look after him properly and was going to find the best and most painful way to teach him. He shouldn't have expected anything less from James Potter's son as he let rip a banshee scream to notify Snape that he was hungry, or thirsty, or that he had done the unthinkable, the unforgivable… he, Harry James Potter had done his business and was waiting for Snape to retaliate. With no help on the way, Snape picked up the child and lay him down on a flat surface and was forced to do the most horrifying _accio_ of his life, " _Accio_ mother's guide to changing nappies." Luckily it appeared quickly and he quickly did the first half by the book then he quickly turned the colour of a tomato as he remembered that he had forgotten the most important ingredient to success… the nappy.

After frantically searching his thoughts for a solution, he had _accio_ -ed for an old fabric wizards hat, split the seem and then used safety pins and resorted to using the guide to finish his job. In total this job had taken a little under forty minutes. During which Harry had fallen asleep, with a smug smile on his face. Snape swept up the little bundle and put him into a chest of drawers he transfigured into a cot with several blankets with the toys he had accumulated in his pocket for the child. Once the child was settled, and he had set up precautionary charms to keep a constant eye on the child, Snape made his bed on the sofa to stay close just in case… and he grieved until he had exhausted himself.

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Dumbledore exceeded his own expectations that night. Not only did he create 'The boy who lived' but he also managed to persuade that Harry should be kept with muggles until the boys seventeenth birthday, when he would be old enough to learn magic properly. This gave him a decade to look for the child to be able to send him to Hogwarts, and seventeen years to turn him into the greatest scapegoat of all time. But do people consider one who dies for their cause a scapegoat or a martyr even though they are being controlled?

Not only that but deviancy had also occurred today from one of his own pawns. Severus Snape had made an identical copy of himself to take over his lessons for the remainder of the school year. Or that is how long it will last now not the intended indefinitely the wizard had intended. He, himself would of course notify the man, give him a little time to stop this absurd behaviour of his, this was supposed to be war after all. Give him time to grieve over his ally as it was his own actions that had caused Lily's death, not that Snape would know how, but he knew well enough. His _occulmancy_ would fail him tonight as punishment because the 'dark marks' were 'deactivating'. However, if Snape wanted a go controlling this game, let him. After all he had a decade to get things back on track and a little sacrificial pawn could not compete against him, the soon-to-be king.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry guys, just a short chapter this time.**

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Over the course of the next week, Snape realised how disadvantaged he was and how much of Lily's intelligence and her bravery/stubbornness as not many people dared to challenge Severus Snape even babies who knew nothing of him! Even though day one consisted of nappies, it somehow got worse… Harry's favourite toy was a little black dog that barked every time its paw was pressed. Of course, accidental magic of the near to irreversible kind shouldn't happen at that age however, Harry being Harry, enjoyed the barking of the dog so much that he accidentally caused it to become continuous and, knowing Severus hated it so much, he managed to keep it going for about six hours. He would be angrier but those green eyes just toyed with him even though site of them became corrupted by his messy black mop. His hair growth was also a case of Harry's stubborn magic as everyone he had seen in the past week had long hair and Harry decided that he wanted long hair too.

Unfortunately, some of the wards had slipped in Severus' absence as he had last lived here properly three years ago. It was due to the lack of magical presence in the house, same as Hogwarts, wards grow weaker due to being sustained through magical energy and outlet. Whilst Lily's visits had kept them going, from just under two years ago, it was only previously sustained through Severus' brief visits. The first ward to go was the sound proofing one, sadly, as the day after the dog incident, his next door neighbour visited inquiring about a dog and was instead met by an infant crawling around to get a better look at the mysterious visitor! So naturally, like any old village, everybody now knew that Severus had a child staying with him.

Although, in the long run, this would be better as if the dark lord did return, he would have to leave the child with someone he trusted if called for by either side.

Unfortunately, this happened several times over the up and coming years as Dumbledore had 'discontinued' his copied self, meaning it would only last until the start of the summer holidays. Severus, now being forced to return to Hogwarts, was every bit determined to stay with Harry and to find away to keep both of them away from Hogwarts until Harry had to go there for school. However, this now seemed extremely unlikely. It would seem impossible if not for Lily's books and near to fail-safe back up plans!

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"Trapped in a game of cat and mouse are we Severus?" Dumbledore pondered as he kept an eye on the little Yorkshire home. Due to the intermediate blood and house wards, Dumbledore could not actually intrude the house in any sort of presence, though the outside view was all he needed as he kept an eye on the Potter boy coming in and out.

During the past week, Dumbledore had seen neither hide nor hair of the boy except from viewing from behind a distasteful muggle woman. This type of nosey biddy-body, even though she had been extremely useful to manipulate into visiting, was only part of the scum that walked this Earth. Their wills were so easily bent that it was child's play to him. However he, like many other politicians, had to keep up appearances to keep control over the mass of the magic community as depressing as it were, blood purists were slowly diminishing from the world, leaving the higher mass of wizarding communities tainted. But now, whilst Severus was playing hard ball, he must use his underlying Slytherin prowess to plan effectively whilst Severus hides.

Severus may think that he has won this round but, he should know better...


	4. Chapter 4

**I have now OFFICIALLY chosen Sunday to be my uploading day!**

 **Thank you all for the favourites and follows.**

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 **InfinitytimesInfinity8: Is this chapter on FIIIIYYYYYYAAAA? *'Rimmer Salute''s You for profanities and NICE comments***

 **Also _Sakura Lisel_ brought up some questions i need to answer so here they are: The reason Dumbledore knows that Snape has Harry is because he has put a trace upon the teacher's magic (this may come up again later). And Dumbledore knows about the scar as it is from Harry tripping over as a baby WHILST HE WAS VISITING and hitting his head on an old metal weather-telling device, the lightning shape imprinted itself into Harry's head. I had meant to mention this in the second chapter but I forgot.**

 **This chapter is basically Harry's childhood in a time skip-ish manner. Enjoy x**

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Although vastly under-prepared, Snape brought up Harry to the best of his ability. It was now coming up to Harry's eleventh birthday and Snape though cold in exterior, to those who didn't know him better, was welling up and couldn't help but to use the pensive to relive all of Harry's major step into becoming the young man – nearly moody teenager – he was today. He went through them in chronological order.

The first was Severus watching Harry walking. At the time he had cried, thinking that Lily had missed her child's first steps and what magnitude of power Harry walked with. The somewhat gentle plodding Harry did reminded him of Lily's grace and James' arrogant steps but most of all, it reminded him of a baby elephant. The noises that were coming from every step shook the house and his guilt. Watching those steps had caused him to swell with pride and guilt as Lily should be here watching Harry with him. It was only later on in a pit of despair that Harry had knocked over a photo album with Lily and James' writing in, detailing that they had in fact seen Harry's first steps. This made him silently rejoice but also thankful of Harry's inquisitiveness of his guardian's emotions.

The next memory had happened a little over a month later. Snape had taken Harry down to the marshes as they were in early in bloom. They looked as if someone had exploded paint cans to give off unique, out of place colourings. The area they had spent the most at was the little pond in the middle. In that area they had had many picnics, this being the first of them. The first as it was where Harry had spoke his first words. After their picnic, Harry stumbled over to the pond's edge to play with the pretty flowers. After Snape had cast several buoyancy, warning and water-proofing charms, he let Harry closer to the water's edge but still not far from his grasp. Then Harry of course fell face first into a separate pool of water, quite a distance from the pond. Snape quickly got Harry out and checked him over when he noticed Harry pointing at a water-Lily and making a sequence of noices which he interpreted to be, "What's that?" Snape picked it up and gave it to Harry saying, "This is a Lil-ly Harry. A lil-ly." Without breaking concentration, Harry laughed at the flower as he dropped it into the water. After doing this several times, laughing at the way it fell into the water, he handed it back to Snape and said, "Lily lily lily." Obviously quite pleased with himself, he went off to find as many more Lily's as he could, bringing each and every flower he found back to Snape, saying Lily and shaking his head 'yes' or 'no' to whether it was a Lily or not. Snape just sat there. Amazed at what he was witnessing, knowing that there could be no better first word for Harry but Lily.

The next memory was Harry's first day at play group. He had made certain that Harry got the opportunities he hadn't in life and that the Potter's would have wanted to give him. He wanted to remember that day as Harry had loved it. At first sight, Harry didn't want to leave the inside of Snape's black coat. It took many reassurances and silly promises to make Harry come out and look around the place. Now age three, Snape had entered Harry into pre-school, much later than most children, as he felt it a valuable experience although gut wrenching for both of them as neither had been away from each other for more than two hours before. With reluctance, Harry came out to give the pre-school a chance. After about five minutes of Severus going around with him, Harry finally let go of Snape and went to join some people his own age who were playing with lego, trying to make a really tall tower. Harry asked to join and just like that he had made friends with a couple of boys! Whilst he was playing, Snape said goodbye to Harry and promised to pick him up on time, if not earlier. The memory quickly fast-forwarded to the end of the school day. Severus was outside waiting, pacing relentlessly was more accurate, when a familiar mop of black hair raced towards him, nearly knocking him over with a hug. He then talked endlessly about the tower he and his friends made, making sure to quickly glance over the fact that they had gotten in trouble, not that he had noticed until much later, he was just happy that Harry had had a good time and had made loads of friends on the first day although being severely shy!

The next memory was Harry's first day at school. As it was quite a small village they lived in, there was only one primary school. This meant that Harry got to go to school with his friends from pre-school but also that he was going to the same school that he had ended up at. Knowing it not to be amazing, he had felt nervous about sending Harry there but had noticed that it had improved drastically since his primary school days. Harry's birthday being in July meant that he was part of the 'red team' being in this team meant that you went home two hours earlier that other groups due to them being the youngest. The 'green team' went home an hour earlier whilst, the 'blue team' went home the same time as the rest of the school. This only occurred for reception though and caused the rest of the school to be utterly envious of both the red and the green teams even though this privilege was just for the first term. Snape himself used to be jealous but now he was extremely thankful as school gave him even less control over Harry's protection. However, that wasn't the reason of seeing the memory. He chose the memory because of the drawings they brought out with them the first day and the scarce classwork. The classwork had made him proud as Harry had gotten everything right but the drawing nearly made him break down. The drawing was titled 'me and my dad' with himself and Harry drawn underneath. It was the best drawing from a four year old he had ever seen and to this very day, it was kept in Snape's bedside cabinet.

The next memory was one of Snape's all time favourites. It was Harry's first christmas school play and he was a Shepard in the school's nativity play. Harry had several lines that, through practice, had built up his confidence profusely. But that was not the reason why it was one of his favourites. The reason why it was a favourite was Harry caused quite the drama half way through. He had taken a liking to the soft toy sheep he had been given to carry in when it was his part. He had also chosen this time to do his second, noticeable larger, bout of accidental magic… Half way through the play, Harry began multiplying the sheep and giving them voiceboxes so they could baa in a chorus together. As they sounded extremely quiet at the start, nobody noticed them however, by the time it had reached 15 soft toy sheep baa-ing, people began to notice, the first being Snape who was muttering a counter charm to try and get rid of the sheep however, for every 1 sheep he managed to get rid of, Harry made around 3. This was quite frustrating for Snape as he had to try not to laugh whilst doing the charm due to Harry pouting and murmuring, "Bad sheep!" at the sheep Snape had removed. Luckily, when it came to Harry's part, some of the sheep vanished as his concentration and underlying boredom had broken but, as he said his lines it made Snape so proud of Harry even though there were magically produced sheep repeating Baa in the background!

The next memory was when Snape was called to the Head-teacher's office. He had been furious at the time as Harry was such a good student, although he normally caused trouble playing football when he was supposed to be eating, he had never done something bad enough to get sent to the Head-teacher's office. Walking down the hallway with his long black cloak billowing behind him, he heard the teacher yelling at Harry because he wouldn't tell him how he had gotten on the school roof and then Harry yelling back, obviously in a fit of anger, that he didn't know and if he knew then he would tell the teacher so he could leave his bloody office. For Harry to be as angry as to shout and say 'bloody', Severus knew that Harry was telling the truth and opened the door immediately. The head-teacher was over the moon that Snape was now here and could help find out the answers. He had sat Harry down and asked him how he had gotten onto the roof and when he replied that they were playing a game of hide and seek and he had wanted to find the best space, Severus knew it had been a case of accidental magic and had quickly sent a mind message to Harry saying that he was going to pretend to be angry and tell him off and that he would tell Harry more when they got home. Being fake angry was easy for the truanting Hogwart's professor as he told the head-teacher that this would never happen again and that he would take Harry home and punish him. Once they had left the building, Snape had burst out in laughter causing Harry to tell him off saying that this was a serious matter but being told off by an eight year old had just made it worst up to the point where Harry was laughing as well much to the displeased stares of the groundskeeper who had to be woken up to let Snape both in and out!

Due to not having much time until Harry came home from his friends house, Snape chose to watch the memory of helping Harry revise for his SATs and the day he came home with his results. The day Harry asked for help was monumental for Severus. Harry normally kept school work to himself as he was too shy to say when he didn't understand something and normally searched up the answers once he got home. This moment was what Snape had been waiting for for all of Harry's life with him. He sat down with Harry and explained how to do the work, well most of it anyway. There were bits that he didn't know that Harry ended up teaching him! In the end, Severus ended up teaching himself what Harry was doing at home so that he could help Harry the next day. This arrangement benefited the both of them up to the point where they were equally over-joyced at Harry's SATS results that had been level 5's in English and Maths whilst he was entered into a level 4-6 Science paper where he achieved a level 6. Before that memory had ended, he was pulled out of the pensive with the beeping of a horn and their door bell ringing. With that Harry was home and Snape's spirits were instantly uplifted. However, if Snape had been more observant of other people in the memories, he would of noticed a familiar yet dreadful face in the backs of all of those memories, Dumbledore.

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Dumbledore had been around Harry at least once every month. This had allowed him to strike up a relationship with the boy and to keep tabs on both him and his adoptive father. This had also allowed Dumbledore to shape Harry's life to his choosing nurturing Harry's magical ability as it was vast and trying to contain his accidental magic's damage. The piece of accidental magic Dumbledore had not been able to foresee was the little apparition trick when he was eight though that just proved that he was the perfect person to use in his plans. Looking into the future with the help of Trelawnies skew-eyed predictions, he managed to plan tasks for Harry to complete once he came to Hogwarts bringing Professor Snape back with him. This game just got interesting as one false move and Snape could pull Harry out or use his expertise to create the perfect counter potion.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Apologies in advance, I have done some quick editing on some of my chapters so, that is why there will be loads of notifications. However, there are two new chapters: Chapters 21 and 22 (16/4/16)

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Harry had just arrived, coming through the front door, shutting it quietly although he was not as shy as he once was. He had looked around about to spout off about his amazing day when he saw his dad sitting on the sofa looking more distant then usual and trust me, that is a feat! Harry trotted over to his father and sat down beside him knowing that company was all he needed to break him out of this foul mood and within a few seconds, Snape held one of Harry's hands and told him news that any other family would be happy about… Harry had been accepted into Hogwarts. Throughout the past eleven years, Snape had been attending Hogwarts during the day through use of an animated golem, controlled by Snape's magical programming/manipulations then at night it would simply vanish to his quarters then into thin air where Snape's magical identity would become one again. This had only happened due to Snape trying to protect the both of them from the old coot's manipulations however, he knew this day had been coming, took a deep breath and told Harry about both of their lives…

"Harry I need you to listen to me properly. What I am about to say may not be to the best of our interests yet, it needs to be discussed." Of course this formal, teaching tone quickly set Harry into a state of anxiety but Snape hurried on before he lost his metaphorical balls, something that only seemed to happen around Lily and her child.

"Harry, you know I have talked to you about Hogwarts?"

"Yes, briefly."

"You got your acceptance letter today."

Confused to why Snape was acting so depressed, he simply replied, "Okay..."

Snape sighed knowing Harry had only heard quite positive things about Hogwarts and began the speech he had been preparing himself for his whole life.

"As you know Hogwart's is an amazing place, one of the only places I have felt truly safe. However, the current headmaster is a manipulative tyrant who wants to control the wizarding world. Unfortunately, he has been named the most powerful wizard of this generation, which is quite questionable due to most of his skills are gained from his Legimency. Anyway, there is a supposed prophecy saying that you should be the one to kill the supposed dark lord who is actually another victim of Dumbledore. Dumbledore has been using this rouse for several decades now and simply wants to replace his damned 'chess pieces'. I want you to go to Hogwarts but, I do want you to become one of his minions..."

"How is he able to control everything?"

"Sadly it is through his potions twisting peoples fears so that they think they are happening, this way he can offer to protect them but he will say that he needs something in return."

"… How… How do you know so much about this dad?"

"I was one of his victims... He offered protection for the only people I cared about but when the time came, he failed. His failure was unforgivable and what I did for his was even more unforgivable."

Severus wasn't sure how much to reveal to Harry at that point but after the singular glance into his emerald eyes, he knew Harry could handle to truth.

"He made me become a spy. He used legimancy and some of the dark arts to manipulate my memories. I am not proud of what I remember to have done under his influence."

The silence broadened into a minute before Severus continued, still keeping a firm eye on Harry for his reactions.

"I still want you to go to Hogwarts Harry as it was your parents wish and because without Albus Dumbledore, it would be the home away from home it was intended to be. You will not be going alone. I technically still work there and now we have completed your mother's occumulancy potion, we should be fine however, I want to keep an eye on everything just in case."

"Okay."

Okay? That was all. Severus just looked at the boy wondering what was going through his mind. His face portrayed several emotions but, the great Severus Snape? He was dumb-founded. He didn't know whether to say something or not or even leave the room and sort out dinner for them both. Whilst all these thoughts went through both of their minds, Harry broke the silence.

"Okay. Right so Dumbledore is an ass-wipe who manipulates people and hurt you and my parents. I am still going there and you will train me to defeat Dumbledore. Did you know that he's been trying to have conversations with me after school? I assume we are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy stuff and… what's for tea?"

Snape just stared and muddled up his words but it eventually ended in,

"Yes… Okay and… I think we have Chicken and Veg. Wait a second, he's been trying to talk to you at your school?"

"Yes, he said he was my Great Uncle."

"Why did you believe me so quickly?"

"You have no reason to lie unlike the strange man hanging around my school..."

"Understood."

"Alright so we will start training after tea. Okay, well I'm going to go up to my room and unpack my things… call me when it's time for tea!"

"Okay and WAIT, WHAT! Harry James Potter get your butt back down here and tell me what you mean by training!"

After hearing Harry laugh so hard he had nearly peed himself, he sighed, knowing that Harry would not be returning anytime soon, and went to the kitchen and began to cook. He knew he could get house elves for this kind of thing but, after growing up with his family, 'servants' wasn't something he approved of. And with that, he, Severus Snape, realised that he had gotten soft! He knew it but, he would only ever act this way towards Harry. If it had been any other brat, they would have been at an orphanage or had a trip close to Azkaban by now. But no, Harry had to wrap him around his little finger just like Lily had all those years ago.

It's finished. It will work. I will win. These were the thought running through one Ass-wipe… I mean… Albus Dumbledore. He lifted up the potion vial, carefully surveying the colours it emitted, and set it down. The most difficult stage was over now all he needed was everyone's magical signature, full name and parentage (blood and in some cases adoption). He already had the all the current students and teachers', he just needed the new first years and Severus Snape. He was the only one who had noticed the man's disappearance acts when he left a golem behind in his place yet, he had played it out to the best of his abilities. Waiting was all he could do. Or is it? He looked into Snape's puppets mind and found him in the dungeon collecting his items for the day before walking out of Hogwarts and apparating to his home in Spinner's end. Little did Dumbledore know… he had been out-smarted by his puppet.

After finishing tea, Snape watched his golem's movements through Hogwart's knowing that Dumbledil..dore was following it. The old man suspected his power to only hold one golem where as Snape actually had three. One tricking Dumbledore in Hogwarts, the second in his head of house room (Dumbledore never knew how he got there so quickly when there was trouble in the Slytherin dorms) and the last in his potions lab, making a years worth of occulmancy potions and other potentially life saving potions such as the anti-crucio one… which had sadly been made after Alice and Frank Longbottom's torture. Although he was trying to manipulate it to reverse the permanent effects of crucio because if anyone knew how much children depended on parents, it was him. After they finished their meal, Snape sighed. Although Dumbledore was still being manipulated to think he was at Spinner's end, when they were in fact in Lily's parent's house. It was left to Lily in her parent's wills, much to Petunia's disgust, and in her will she left it to him knowing that he still had yet to let go of Snape cottage. Or it may have been because of her skills in Divination, she had always thought she was good in that lesson although, he thought it was a load of baloney to be truthfully honest… He had to train Harry as he had managed to outsmart the man by simply controlling the order of a list. Snape could outwit a 109 year old master manipulator but, not an 11 year old boy… Neglecting these thoughts, he turned to Harry, bit his tongue, and politely asked, "So what do you want training in Harry?" "How to act around Dumbledore, How to defeat Dumbledore, How to stop him from manipulating my thoughts. How to identify is anything has been put into my food and drinks. And… How to successfully prank someone who I do not like… Dumblewhore… so they do not mess with me again. Like the 'prank' you are currently playing on the 'greatest wizard of this generation'" "WHAT WERE YOU READING UPSTAIRS HARRY? Did you just call Dumbledore a whore?" "Yes I did. He mentally rapes people." "I know… WHERE DID YOU LEARN THOSE WORDS?" "Defiantly not from you," "You cheeky sod..." "No not from you at all. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with you swearing about Dumbledore when he is being a nosey pric...person or when someone gets an easy question wrong on pointless." "Turn to page 394… I have something I need to look for." Harry begrudgingly opened his book knowing he had won this battle and read the text then, he remembered what he had left on his bed and turned pale… paler then he normally was and tried to do some wandless magic to bring Snape's diary, Snape's dark arts books and his invisibility cloak to him. It didn't completely work… It only didn't work when.. when someone was holding the items and if he didn't technically own them. Luckily, the invisibility cloak had appeared, so he quickly pulled it on while muttering, "Shit." over and over again. He picked up the book and slipped out the backdoor hearing Snape shouting behind him about people's privacy, using his invisibility cloak, reading dark arts at his age, Lily murdering him if she knew and more nonsense but he was long gone at the first, "HARRY!"

Once Snape had fake-calmed down, Harry accidentally came back into sight up a tree with the book in his hand but, on seeing that he had been spotted, he put the cloak back on and jumped down... straight into Snape's black-clad arms. Laughing maniacally, he carried Harry back inside whilst murmuring sweet threats into Harry's ears, even though they didn't affect him what-so-ever, except for making him a little bit annoyed… They were frightening and funny when he was five but, now he was nearing eleven, it was just plain demeaning to a pre-teen like him. When the threatening and punishment was over, Snape told Harry about their plans for the next day, whilst he was still smarting from the lines, knowing he wouldn't be sarcastic or talk back at the moment. The lines Snape had made Harry write over the years were extremely demeaning but, they had vastly improved his hand writing. This time the lines were 'I will not read my father's journal, dark arts books or use my invisibility cloak to play hooky like a muggle chav'. But, everything was made better when Snape told Harry that they would be visiting Diagon Alley tomorrow and if he behaved like the good little boy he was, stopped copying his sarcasm and stop copying the 'bad boys' in his classes, he would take Harry to.. *sigh * … the Quidditch shop to buy yet another training snitch. Harry now didn't care what Snape said to him. All he knew was that he would be getting a new snitch and with that he was gone…. Hugging Severus so tightly them running round the house jumping up and down with the biggest smile on his face- it could even challenge the Cheshire cats! Then those green eyes widened when he saw a giant outside of the window walking past their house to his father's old house. He knew this man was of the wizarding kind, probably a half giant but, that did not explain the pink umbrella in this man's hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the lovely reviews notwritten, 123, t42nt24t2 and InfinitytimesInfinity8. And, Sorry for the late update x**

 **On to Harry's visit to Diagon Alley...**

* * *

It wasn't like Harry had never visited Diagon Alley before, he had, several times in fact! He'd even visited the shady Knockturn alley in search of rare potion ingredients with Snape and for Forbidden magic books – Light and Dark. Much to the annoyance of Snape who had desperately tried to avoid teaching Harry the darkest side of magic but every time Snape brought it up, Harry retaliated with, "Dark magic is only as Dark as the person who is using it and their intent. Anyway how does anyone expect me to defeat a dark lord with out any knowledge of what the dark arts actually are?" Snape still hasn't come up with a reasonable comeback for that!

As they entered Diagon Alley, via Flu powder, they went about their schedule systematically. Severus had organised their trip so that they would get the school stuff done in the morning, have ice cream then pack when they returned home ready to enjoy the remaining days of Harry's true freedom. However, first off was Gringotts where Severus had to 'observe' a little problem. Suffice to say, Harry would probably sneak off to the Quidditch store when Snape would be doing this to fulfil his 'secret' passion. It wasn't really that secret though as when someone runs into a wall, faints making a loud banging noise then wakes up with a snitch falling out of their mouths it's just a one time thing…

At Gringotts bank, they met up with Griphook as they usually do then went down to Harry's vault. He was about halfway through his first one due to normally getting his pocket money from Snape but due to his 'secret' obsessions, it had dwindled quite a bit. From Harry's vault, he got enough out for any leisure things he wanted to buy and maybe another snitch. He always made sure that his vault had at least one snitch in in-case he lost one whilst out, which was a common occurrence much to Severus' dismay. They then travelled around to his Potter vault. After Lily had married James and acquired her job. She started her own line of vaults up in-case someone ever had to take over the task of looking after Harry, due to it being a war, she had always known that this would happen in the back of her mind, ever since James convinced her to sign up to the Order of the Phoenix with him. Sighing inwardly at the memory, Snape opened his vault and got out the necessary funds for Harry's school items and a couple of Ice creams from Florian Flortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. After shutting the vault-that-never-should-have-been-a-factor-in-any-child's-upbringing, they exited Gringott's only pausing so that Snape could talk to a collegue. Sensing this would take a while, Harry sneaked off. This was expected and, for once, he thanked Merlin that his adopted-son was so predictable around him.

Snape feeling relieved, strode over to the blundering half-giant and stuck up conversation with him, waiting to place a muggle 'bug' on him. Surprisingly, it was the muggle things that goblins overlooked when placing their wards all those millenia ago.

"So Hagrid, here on Hogwart's business I assume?"

"That I is professor Snape. What about your selves?"

"Taking a new student around for an old friend."

"Oh, who may that be? Lily and James' boy?"

"No Hagrid. Not that self-centred, pompous brat."

"Have ya met him? I couldn't find the lad! The letter writin' quill, wouldn't tell me so I'm just here to pick up the you-know-what. Would've like to meet little ol' Harry though..."

"Of course I haven't! Even if I wanted to, Dumbledore would not have let me. Anyway, one can only expect being famous to go to a child's head Hagrid!"

"Oh okay then."

Nearly forgetting the bug, Snape called out, "If you wouldn't mind finishing our conversation, I would like you to give this to Dumbledore. It is to do with my protection for the… 'you-know-what'"

Meanwhile, whilst this idiocy was going on, Harry sneaked into Gambol and Jype – The Joke Shop of Diagon Alley. In Harry's opinion, it was good but not as good as Zonkos or any of the twins' testers! Harry knew that this was not what Snape was suspecting as Harry had already been there in the past fortnight. But Harry had arranged a meeting with two boys he had met the fortnight before, twins to be exact. They created a moving animation, based off the photos they each had around their houses that relayed their messages for them, it was safer than texting as the animation would only speak to those who the message was to. But that wasn't the best bit! The animation they had picked was a drawing done by the twins, who were actually extremely talented, of Arnold Rimmer from Red Dwarf. It was one of the muggle shows their dad had managed to get a hold of over the years. Harry had watched it as an eight year old with Snape, in his invisibility cloak, and loved the salute Rimmer did. Both parties liked it so much, that it was now their greeting to one another.

Doing that greeting to the identical red-head twins infront of them, they returned it.

"Hey Gred! Hey Forge!"

"Hi Harry! What's this prank you have lined up?" they said at the same time, of course.

"Well," Harry began noticing that they were being watched so he spelling the animated cards, "We've planned our small pranks from September up to December so I suggest that in December, we take a break then do a big finale at the Christmas feast."

"Go on..."

"We're listening..."

"Let's put charm some of the seats in the Grand Hall so that who ever sits in them acts really drunk and sings Christmas songs in really loud voices..."

"We're up for it but..."

"There sound like there is more..."

"How would you like to prank McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore AND get away with it?"

"Tell us more..."

"Oh wise one..."

"Well as Snape is my guardian..."

"Wait a second Harry..."

"The dungeon bat is your guardian?"

"Yeah, why?"

"How are you not more slimy-gittish or dungeony?"

"How are you still alive with all the stuff you've done and said at home?"

"He actually encourages it sometimes and I had to learn the stuff about the teachers somewhere didn't I! But with the stuff I've pulled, I understand you confusion but, Snape is really nice and he has brought me up from when I was a baby. Also, if you ever bring this up to someone outside this group, you will be hexed for the rest of your life?"

"You can try to hex us..."

"Young one but you will never manage.."

"We will not bring it up also,"

"You are one scary eleven year old."

"However, we solemnly swear that Snape is actually pretty decent!"

"Now that's over with, I think you understand why I can get away with this but what about you two?"

"Oh you better count us in..."

"Or you will have a joke off on your hands!"

"Okay then! Well I searched our house and found a journal by my mum and dad about pranks and what teachers to play them on. However, my dad – the one who played them – never got around to these ones. I'm thinking that we give them charmed objects for Christmas, well I will give them to the teachers but I will need you to observe them. I will tell you the spells and stuff when we get to Hogwarts… I've gotta go, Snape thought I sneaked off to the Quidditch store even though I got a snitch out of my vault. He really does act idiotic sometimes!"

Harry ran out of the store to two twin voices yelling, "See ya Harold." Then the mutterings of devious minds. With that he smirked and exited, almost walking straight into his guardian.

As Snape had miscalculated where Harry would be, he had to go hunting for him. After searching the school-related shops, as a long shot, to no avail, he was ready to turn down Knockturn alley with a murderous gaze upon his face when he noticed a familiar black mop out of the corner of his eye, trying to sneak around Snape to continue his non-school related rampage however, he knew he would have to cut this chase short.

"Where did you sneak off to this time then?"

Knowing he was caught, he replied, but Harry being Harry, sarcasm was dealt out!

"Oh wouldn't you like to know?"

"So it was the joke shop, again."

"Or was it? I may have been down Knockturn Alley, who knows?"

After that witty remark, Fred and George exited the joke shop. Snape then knew what was going on. With a moan, he said, "Why them? No, more importantly, why me?"

"Calm down! It's not like they're my first friends from Hogwarts or anything! Also, just a warning, we are planning something for Dumbledore so you shouldn't be moaning!"

"Thank Merlin for Draco!… What are you planning?"

"That is none of your concern as of yet… Oh look, Draco's going in to Madam Milkin's, lets go there now and see him!"

As the eleven year old boy ran through Diagon Alley, Snape could only marvel at how much he had changed. He was still rather scrawny for his age due to the potion master's weird tendacies but also, like his mother, he probably wouldn't sprout until he was older or too stubborn to wait. Apart from his striking green eyes, height and his cheek bones, Harry got the rest of his looks from his father, James. Breaking out of this momentary day dream, he strut towards the shop seeing both boysbeing fitted whilst blabbering away to each other, much to the shock of Lycius and Narcissa. It was as if the two boys hadn't seen each other for a month, were in fact, it had only been 9 days tops!

After the robes, Snape and Harry continued to go round with the Malfoy's. They had done everything including an ice cream break at Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and the somewhat compulsory detour down Knockturn alley due to the boys deciding to take a walk down there to go on a 'shopping spree' but it was only to pee off their guardians of course! After this, and being told of in a socially polite manner, the adults took the two children to Ollivanders to get their wands, even though both were sufficient in wandless magic.

The boys had never experienced anything like Ollivander's before! Draco, who normally acted uptight in public, was nearly squealing like a school girl at what was happening around him whilst, Harry just stood there with his jaw just an inch of off the floor. After they had finished staring the adults pushed the boys towards a ditsy looking man. After a moment of observation from both sides, the room almost exploded with noise! It was of course started by Ollivander, who had just noticed who his customers were.

"Mr Potter it is a great pleasure to finally meet the saviour of the wizarding world. I am sorry to say I sold the wand that caused all of that bother. I remember your parents, and their wands, fondly Mr Potter. Lily, 10 and a quarter inches, willow, swishy, perfect for charms work in which she quite excelled then your father James, 11 inches, mahogany, pliable, good for transfiguration as he somewhat was.(wand thingy for both parents) And young Mr Draco, finally here to get your wand are you? I've seen you staring at my shop all day...Let's see will your wand be like your fathers? Although he has hidden it in..."

"Enough!"At that Lucius had had enough of Ollivander's yakking, he may of previously of had the patience but that was lost when the younger boys had decided on the detour. Silence reigned for a few minutes until Ollivader decided that it was safe to carry on.

"Hold out your wand arms," after studying them something seemed to click as he headed to the back of the store, collecting about three wands for the boys to try. His first customer was Draco as he would be the easiest to find a wand for. Ollivander returned to the boys in a minute exactly telling Draco to take the wand and try it out. As Ollivander had predicted, Draco was an easy client with the second wand taking to him immediately. The wand in question was 10 inch, hawthorn with a unicorn horn core. Then, it was Harry's turn…

"Right, Mr Potter, take a hold of this wand and try it out."

"Okay..."

They were now on the thirteenth wand, Harry was down in the dumps whilst, Draco was having a joy ride. Normally, Harry got things first time and he would have to catch up but now, due to overall stubbornness of both the wands and Harry, it was taking its sweet time to react.

Ollivander, on the other hand, was curious, this didn't often happen in his shop so Mr Potter was quite the unusual customer and if this wand bonded to him, only time would tell if it was for better or for worse… To heat his suspicions, the wand did bond to Harry and not in the normal subtle glow and humming in the surroundings, a golden light emitted around ten times brighter than the normal amount and the posters on his walls were now sitting limply on the ground. Not to mention that Mr Malfoys smug grin had fallen into a state of despair.

"Curious, very curious indeed?"

"What is curious sir?"

"It is curious that you are destined for that wand when its brother gave you that scar!"

Harry just looked at this man in puzzlement. Snape had told Harry the origins of his scar and often laughed about it. Snape had told him that his scar was from him tripping over thin air when he was younger and face-planting an old metal weather reader at a weird angle. The force of him falling over had caused the lightning sign to be imprinted onto his forehead and scarred. He turned around to Snape about to say something when he noticed the look on his adopted father's face. He stayed silent, thanked the man, paid for their wands and left.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?"

He had every right to know and he would, just not in public. Snape promised to reveal the truth to Harry before he went to Hogwarts. Which basically meant tonight or never due to a certain old coot's plannings.


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING: Major Dumbledore bashing and spoilers for 2nd and 6th book.**

 **Sorry again for another late upload however, thank you again to the reviewers. All I have to say is wait…. All will be revealed in due time ;)**

All was going to plan for Dumbledore. The stupid minister Fudge had decided to make his security measures a matter of law, this meant all the professors at Hogwarts HAD to give Dumbledore their basic biography's and a litre of their blood which was protected by their magical signatures. This gave him all the tools he needed to complete the potion. As soon as Hagrid returned from his 'Harry Hunt', with his newest memory for the collection and the Philosopher's stone, he could begin.. Speaking of the half-giant…

"Ah, Hagrid, unlucky again I presume?"

"Ay Dumbledore, I'm sorry but I just couldn't find 'im. I even tried Spinners En' but I couldn't find 'im"

"Would you mind me looking at your memory Hagrid? I might see something you missed."

"Sure headmaster. Anythin to bring 'im home!"

"Alright then, pensive or leginmens?"

"Pensive. So if yer see 'im, I know where to go back to without me 'ead 'urtin'."

"If you will..."

"Here ya go."

"I will call for you when I am done. I am unsure of how long this will take."

"Sure thing headmaster."

"Hagrid? The stone?"

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot there! 'Ere ya go. Well, I best be off then…"

With that, Hagrid left. The twinkling of Dumbledore's eyes maintained as he laughed whole-heartedly at the half-giant for being so gullible, just like the rest of the fickle wizarding world. After a few healthy minutes of chuckling, he gathered himself together and began the most important part of his potion. He would make sure that imbecile Hagrid got so over worked with his emotions that he would need a pepper-up potion.

The first thing to put into the potion was the basic biography. This was spelled in so that potion would only take to the person it was intended for, in this case, one Rubeus Hagrid. The potion seemed to accept the information. The affirmative hiss started at the information of half-giant and ended with his 'unfortunate' expulsion in his third year due to both Aragog and his puppet, Tom Marvolo Riddle. First try, a success for many but an expectation from one such as he. Once this stage of the potion was done, Dumbledore could match the potion to a more sustainable level. Through adding a hundred millilitres of blood then stirring clockwise thrice, he was also tying in the regenative properties which meant that the potion fixed itself if anything in the persons system affected its manipulations. After all the blood was tied in, the potion began to read the magical signature, making sure everything was connected and fluent. This potion was of course from the 'dark' side but even though he was the image of everything light and pure, he was quite proud of his little invention!

Knowing that his control was well and truly established over Hagrid, he moved over to the pensive to watch Hagrid's journey from the beginning of his Harry hunt to the collection and transportation of the Philosopher's Stone, the first in his quite harsh test for the young wizard. If only one could find him. It was not often that Dumbledore's moves failed but at least this should put the brat even deeper in his favour once all is revealed to him. The revelations of the valiant heroes his parents had been, how he was worshipped when he was actually 'just Harry' and most importantly, the acceptance. For Dumbledore knew the child was alive due to the trace he put upon the Potters when Harry was born and he also knew that due to the 'accidental horocrux' within Harry's scar, that who ever had taken him were about to come under some very dire affects, as over ten years exposure to a horocrux wasn't really good for you…

'Enough chess for one night, better take a lemon drop' Dumbledore mused to himself. The sweets were quite intoxicating, especially as they are laced with a calming draught. After taking the prescribed amount, he tipped the memory forcefully into the pensive and got to work reviewing all of the bumbling man's thoughts.

At first it was as normal, the man stomping through the streets looking for the boy as if he was a wild creature. As if sighing was enough, the bumbling man then looked inside a rubbish bin for Harry. He had joked about it once to Hagrid, stupidly thinking he would get a somewhat intelligent response and once again being disappointed. He was almost ready to sit down and wait it out as a swirl of blacks and greys swam around him until he noticed a suspicious spot of colour coming from within a house. Hagrid had obviously noticed it as it was part of the memory but once again the idiot hadn't thought anything of the child that had been able to see through the glamours, which was obvious due to the wide-eyed expression that was fleetingly seen. It was undoubtedly the Potter boy, he quickly memorised the address of his newest pawn and decided to go there himself to discuss the wizarding world with its' saviour.

He was about to leave the memory when he saw it transition. The memory was now of the Philosopher's stone. He watched the whole process and had to refrain himself from cursing the man the next time he saw him as he was declaring a secret package to the whole of Gringotts whilst telling them what vault it was in. After Hagrid left Gringotts, he had once again prematurely assumed that the memory was over when he saw what Hagrid had unintentionally put within the extracts. His meeting with Snape and Snape's 'nephew'. Oh, this was bound to be interesting.

As Harry Potter, the 'missing' boy-who-lived, walked away to find something, presumably a friend due to knowing all about the wizarding world from the looks of it, he was drawn back to the civil conversation between Hagrid and Snape. Snape answered the questions almost honestly. He called Harry such wonderful terms which sure fit the boy now but… that's about it. From the memory, Dumbledore detected some sort of muggle device being passed over to the man. But, oh well, he had finally met the other player in this game and for once he wasn't the intended.

When he was finally released from that man's memories, he went down to the dungeons to make find what he believed was a golem. One simple spell could tell him that and deteriorate it in less than a day, or so he expected. He arrived and cast the charm. He knew it had taken effect but he didn't realise that the dungeon bat had that much magical power! It was on par with good ole Tom so in actual fact, the golem would take four days to vanish. But before he cast the charm, he made sure to get a copy of the magical signature. Chuckling inwardly, he knew he had gotten the upper hand. Even when he realised there was a conditional golem still acting within the Slytherin common room's office. After raising a short panic outside of the dungeons causing the golem to reactivate, he cast the charm, shutting down the golem taking Snape's castle. He knew just how to retalliate to Snape's play and it's initials were T.M.R and it was very easily manipulated.

With a tinkling laugh, he left. Ready to plan both the rendez-vous with Hagrid and the apparently a decade old Snape family. What a night...


	8. Chapter 8

They began training the night after their visit to Diagon Alley. But that first meant an explanation from Snape about both past and future training, Lily's journals: the very reason for Harry's survival. Once again, he had to gear himself up for a speech about a war he would rather forget.

"Right Harry, before we begin your beloved training, we must talk about it's origins."

"Okay Sevie."

"I want to talk about something serious and you answer with that! Oh well, lets proceed… You know that I have been teaching you a bit of wandless magic and that I have taught you differently than textbooks say?"

"Yes."

"Well that is because the way I have been teaching you is the way your mother learnt. Throughout her life, she was always trying to find the old ways of doing magic as she heard so many stories in the muggle world, about how wizards could accomplish tasks with the flick of their hand. Enticed with this she scoured the library's restricted section to find out more information. Once she found the books she needed, she duplicated them and began teaching herself. Then she wrote down how she accomplished each spell and her thought process, hoping to teach others one day."

"How do you know all this? I know she was your best friend but, remembering all this is a bit much!"

"The night I found you, I found her journals. They were one of the only things that had protection charms on them."

"How did I survive?"

"She took some lengthy precautions. Knowing it was war, Lily brought some forbidden books from abroad with protection spells in and took advice from some rather unsavoury people. From what I can tell in her journals, she was casting it on you before she was killed. You know you remember her murmuring to you then, a green light… She performed the protection, sacrificing her magic. She knew she couldn't win against him in a duel so she did the next best thing, she protected you. All Lily ever wanted was to protect those who she loved."

"But she could do all this magic… Magic even Dumbledore can't do. Why couldn't she protect all of us?"

"Harry, you have got to understand…"

"No I don't understand. There is a fucking war going on and my mum was a witch more powerful than Dumbledore. She could of saved all of us, she had the power."

"Harry calm down… let me explain."

"What is there to explain? The brightest witch of her generation couldn't save herself, what hope do I have? I'm a supposed saviour, I'm going to be controlled like a puppet and I am supposedly more powerful than my mum who knew stuff that Dumbledore didn't!"

"Lily had never duelled in her life."

"What do you mean she never duelled? I've seen the old articles with her battles in!"

"In all of those she fought for her own survival. She never wanted to be in those battles and relied on both her instincts and the adrenalin from her fight or flight response to survive for you and James. In the days after she would be depressed. She believed that life was sacred and nobody should take it away. In the end, Dumbledore settled for her teaching others the offensive spells she knew, instead of duelling. She knew her limits and knew she could never win one on one. She had never fought one on one, let alone with a dark lord."

At the end of this, both were left seething with anger. In the end, Harry stormed off into his room to calm down before training. This is how nearly all their discussions ended because even though Harry was 10 years old, he had to act much older than other children his age for his own protection and sanity. He had to grow up fast to be able to escape people's plans for him. They both knew this but it didn't make anything easier for them when a serious topic became heated. In the end, Harry walked back in. Clearly peed off with the lies in everything he had been told about his mother. He knew Lily was a powerful witch with a big heart but throughout his whole life he had been told by passing witches and wizards that his mum was a 'warrior princess'. However, now he knew she was just their trainer but, even that once Harry had thought it over was 'flipping awesome' in his book!

They had a stare off before they succumbed to laughter. Harry had really made him soft and had taken away what little power his glare had. Once they had controlled their emotions, they began to discuss what they were going to be training on for the next month.

"Right as you can already do Lumos, Wingardium Leviosa, Accio, Alohamora, Expelliarmus and about ten joke spells perfectly, you weird child, what do you want to study?"

"Animagus transformation, more defensive spells, master Occulumancy and more jokes."

"Yes to the first three, maybe to the last..."

"Yes!"

"Right. We will do defensive spells in the morning, animagus in the afternoon and occulumancy before you go to bed. If you master all I have to throw at you, I will get you a wandless jokes spell book the next time I go to Knockturn."

"Deal."

That night they drew up the training schedule then, Harry began to read the books on Occulmancy. Until they were distracted by a rather familiar guest.

In a boarding school, in Scotland, sat one Albus Dumbledore. He was pleased at how that meeting played out. After he had administered the potion the previous night, Hagrid had gone into a dream state in which Albus could feed instructions to his subconscious and influence his beliefs very easily. After feeding him his new personality, Albus left him to sleep for twenty-four hours and had planned their meeting for the following night.

Once Hagrid had woken up, he immediately apologised for drifting off thinking he had done it while Dumbledore had been talking. After reassuring him that it was alright he told Hagrid about what he had seen in his memories. Well most of what he had seen…

"Hagrid, stop fretting! You have done the magical world a great deed, you located Harry Potter although you did not recognise it so! He saw you out of a window whilst jumping up and down on a sofa. He is certainly a happy child but it is sadly time to introduce him to the magical world and the turmoil we have here so he can keep himself safe."

"Ay I agree Dumbledore! I will finally get the meet James and Lily's boy!"

"That's why I want you to go and introduce him Hagrid. You were such good friends with them while they were at school and Harry probably won't know much about them."

"You can count on me Dumbledore! I won let you down!

"I know Hagrid, why don't you go and see him now as he should definitely be up! Don't forget to give him a birthday present from us."

"Ay Dumbledore. Goodbye, I just can't wait!"

With that the bumbling fool left his office. Knowing what he was about to do, he twinkled knowing that Gryffindor was about to raise his newest pawn.

Just as Harry was getting to the section about types of blocks, he heard a knock at the door deciding to ignore it he carried on reading. He had gotten to the point about 'no two blocks are the same' when he heard, "I'm looking for 'arry Potter sir, I am here to introduce him to the wizarding world." At the 'sir' point, Harry knew it wasn't anybody he knew but as he recognised that voice from Diagon Alley, he had assumed that it was time to start to unknowing impression after all he was supposed to be living as a muggle child. With a sigh, Harry tiptoed down the stairs to see what glamour Snape had on this time to his surprise it was the elderly man one. This personna was supposedly a squib from a wizarding family who had seen him doing accidental magic at an orphanage one day. This meant that someone was here to supposedly introduce him to the wizarding world and probably take him away to get his school stuff. Coming down the stairs, he listened to the conversation before going in to see what type of character he was supposed to play. After a few minutes, he was called forwards to act like himself but not as knowledgeable of anything.

"Hi sir, I'm Harry!"

"Harry you were just a young 'un last time I saw ya. I must say you look a lot like yer dad but with yer mum's eyes."

"Thank you sir."

"So 'arry, I'm guessing ya know yer a wizard."

"Yes sir but I was very surprised when I found out from my adoptive dad! I kept on saying, 'a what?'"

"Ah, I can imagine! So what do you know about the wizarding world at the moment?"

"Only that I am a wizard, the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley are not figments of my imagination and that I am going to a school called Hogwarts… what I don't understand is why everyone kept on shaking my hands when they saw me!"

"That's because yer famous Harry!"

"I'm what? What for?"

"For defeating you-know-who when you were just a babe. Nobody knows how, just that you were able to survive the killing curse somehow. I bet it has something to do with Lily though."

"Why would you say that?"

"Even though my wand was broken away when I was younger, Lily was the only one who visited me every week and to secretly improve my magic umbrella by refusing my ol' wand pieces."

"Wow..."

"I know! So what have you told 'arry about Hogwarts sir?"

"Please call me Sid, Mr Hagrid, and I haven't told him much as once I was born a squib, I was kicked out of my family so I never needed the information. I am not sure if he has read Hogwarts: a history yet, as we only went to Diagon Alley yesterday after receiving his letter."

"So have ya read it 'arry?"

"Only bits… Can you tell me a bit more about the houses Hagrid?"

"Right there are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor, the house I was in, is the home of the brave and strong and the fun-loving. Ravenclaw are a bunch of intelligant people with extremly good wit. Hufflepuff are loyal and are supposedly very good finders. Slytherin is the home of the ambitious folk, try to avoid it 'arry, there's not a bad wizard that hasn't been in Slytherin. You shouldn't need to worry about being placed there being Jamed an' Lily's kid though!"

As Harry's mind digested these comments about Slytherin, Hagrid assumed that he was thinking it over and trying to decide what house he would likely be in so he continued to talk to Sid about what they had done, Harry's accidental magic and about contacting each other whilst he was at Hogwarts. To end the conversation, Harry started yawning every now and again. Taking this as Harry being tired, 'Sid' wrapped up the conversation by saying, "Harry must be tired, it's been a long day! He's been searching through his stuff for Hogwarts or I should say the Quidditch and magic practical joke books he snuck into the pile at Flourish and Burkes!" After a hearty laugh, Hagrid left but not before turning around and giving Harry a slightly crushed birthday cake, which he baked for himself and tried to spell everything properly. Feeling touched, Harry thanked the man, gave him a slight hug and promised to visit him once he reached Hogwarts! With that, Hagrid left while crying joyfully about the young Potter boy and making promises about owling him or visiting again soon.

After he was gone, Snape transformed back and after a little while he admitted, "I would really try to like that man if he wasn't it Dumbledore's back pocket so much!" After that comment they dissolved into conversations about Hogwarts before remembering about Harry's party the next day. Withthat he was shooed into bed with the promise of presents, a party with his friends and finding out what his animagus transformation will be.


	9. Chapter 9

Snape couldn't help but to smile in irony when Harry woke at 8am on his birthday. Normally, he was quite a late riser as apparently 'if there is nothing fun to do, why should he wake up?' As the boy ran down the stairs, he took in the sight of the room, each year Severus had spelled it a different colour with animations on the walls for his birthday. His favourite one had to be this years. On the walls was a forest. The trees were quite a dark green but flitting around the room, brightening the scenery up were golden snitches. From the top of the stairs they'd look like fireflies but only once you came closer, you could tell what they were. This, as always, was the only things that could be good about mornings as he knew, from experience, that these would run off around midday, in time for his muggle friends to arrive. After the customary poke to the wall still (after so many years of being unsuccessful) trying to break through and muck about, he resulted in going to have breakfast.

Breakfast was as good as people told him it was! If it was like this year round, maybe he would consider having this useless meal however, as a nice, sugary breakfast was normally only on celebratory days, it was normally skipped by him much to Severus' dismay. It was almost as if people believed he wanted to be skinny and scrawny with the looks they gave him! After putting his musings aside on the breakfast debate, he looked towards the magnificent feast. To his left were fried eggs, his right blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes and right in-front of him was bacon, sausages, fried bread, baked beans and a birthday Yorkshire pudding – he had been begging Snape to allow him to have a Yorkshire pudding with his birthday breakfast ever since he was six yet he still couldn't believe it was there! It probably killed the man a little on the inside to put it on his plate. With a gleeful smile, he looked up to his guardian and shouted his thanks before tucking in and finishing all the food in fifteen minutes flat. After said fifteen minutes, Harry was buzzing on his seat waiting for Severus to finish his Earl Grey tea and slice of toast. With a sigh, Snape managed to stuff the toast into his face, whilst looking dignified, and followed Harry back into the living room to go through all of his presents.

As Harry only had a few 'family' members left, the eleven presents spelled onto the floor in-front of Harry must of looked amazing. Snape sometimes believed Harry to be older than he actually was due to his forced maturity, it was only blissful moments like these that had kept Severus happy, as he got to watch the young boy express himself without acting. As Harry was shaking them, Snape cast a quick spell to see who the presents were from as he only remembered collecting nine from other people. The collected names, that he knew about, came to three from himself, one from Lupin (who had tracked his cub down whilst, passing Harry's primary school when Harry was six), one from Sirius (who Remus had told and whom Snape still wasn't sure how he managed to get them past the guards, let alone buy them), one from their neighbour, the cake from Hagrid last night, one from the Malfoys (although Draco would be bringing another around later) and one from the Lovegood's after the two Lovegood women somehow knew where they were, who they were and when their birthdays were! The two unexpected ones were from Lily and James. One was a conscious decision, the other was forced or rather fake and I wondered who would of faked a present! Harry knowing about the charm, was ready for the interrogation to begin.

"So which ones were expected and which ones were not?"

"All were expected except the two on the right, the small purpley-grey bundle and the big brown box."

"Who are they from?"

"Your parents..."

"Why the pause?"

"One of them is, the other is forged."

"Forged how?"

"It must be a replica or maybe someone else intended it to be here or both."

"Should I open it first incase it is something which annoys both of us?"

"Yes, I think that would be best."

"Which one is the fake?"

"The purpley-grey bundle."

"Is your wand ready, is your casting arm steady, 1, 2, 3 and it is opened."

After his ridiculous countdown, he pulled away the string and out come Harry's invisibility cloak. Both knowing that this was a fake and that he had the real Peverall one in his room were rather annoyed at the matter. This emotion only escalated when a card tumbled out saying, "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well." The cursive writing gave away who it was immediately to Snape and Harry could only assume the same thing from his father's angry expression. Picking it up, Harry slowly put it on.

"It looks correct and it works but, I know that it definitely isn't the right one just by looking at it."

"Let me run some diagnostic charms on it."

"Okay. Bet there is a tracker or microphone in it! Like the spy movies."

Believing that they might actually have been listened in on was etched onto Harry's young face alongside his anger and after charms run on it, Snape discovered two high powered charms that he wasn't sure if even he was able to break. There were tracking charms and a compulsion charm on the cloak. The compulsion charm would of made Harry take more risks and be more ignorant of the magical world and in lessons after increased exposure. Snape was now fuming but seeing it was Harry's birthday, he chose to confiscate it for 'safety' reasons and then after a few choice swears in his room, he was going to send it to the goblins for 'safe-keeping'.

"So, what charms Sev?"

"The normal stalker ones. I am just going to confiscate this and give it to the goblins for safe-keeping. Ok?"

"That bad, WOW… okay."

"Don't follow me upstairs, this will only take a couple of minutes"

"Okay, I'll be counting!"

With that childish response, Severus smiled softly, then wondered upstairs to let loose a string of colourful words, then to talk to some goblins. Harry knew that that response would get rid of him quicker and that it would give him a chance to go upstairs and hear, "Old fool, who does he think he is! Trying to make him a pure Gryffindor or get him killed in his first year! When I get my hands on you, you Dumbledildo, I swear to God I will take your sweet tooth and shove it right up your…. Why, hello Mr Ragnok. I would like to hand over a potentially dangerous artefact given to Mr Potter, for the charms to be removed. I suspect that they were put on by Dumbledi-dore." At this Harry was pissing himself with laughter! That slip up made him howl, Snape's eyebrow twitched at his laughter but, as it was his birthday, he knew he would be let off… for now.

After that phone call had ended, Harry opened up all of his gifts. First he opened Lupin's. Lupin, or Mooney, as Harry preferred to call him, had given Harry a soft toy wolf and some potion ingredients he had found whilst travelling England. Sirius/Padfoot/Paddy had given Harry the marauder's joke book with Lupin had obviously looked through and had taken out the jokes that were more on the side of bullying. The Lovegood's had gotten Harry a new and 'improved' copy of Marvellous beasts and where to find them. Their neighbour had gotten Harry another fantasy book and some muggle sweets (Harry had really left an impression on her to get that sort of gift!). The Malfoy's had gotten Harry a 'manly' friendship bracelet with protection charms on it and some sort of communication quill which became larger when removed from the clasp of the bracelet. Also the Malfoy's, being Malfoy's, had obviously threaded some precious metals into it although they had kept a grip on their excessive habits, as Harry was supposed to be raised by lower-class muggles and squibs! He, of course, had the cake from Hagrid, which Snape had checked for potions and charms last night and luckily found zero of them. Then it came to Snape's gifts. Harry was now shaking with excitement, Severus never disappointed with presents! The first present was a collection of eleven potions, one being the potion to find out what his animagus form will be. The second present was a collection of books about both sides of magic with several new spells in that he could try out at school and not get in trouble for! And the third, the third was his favourite! It was a new set of Quidditch balls and the newest broom out there! A nimbus two-thousand. He was speechless! This must of cost a fortune! With that he was off of his feet and Snape was on the ground in a bear hug, for a good five minutes!

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

"I'm glad you like it Harry!"

"Like it? You've got to be kidding me! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!"

"Okay Harry! Calm down a bit and you can use them!"

"CALM DOWN! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN? YOU JUST GAVE ME A NIMBUS TWO-THOUSAND AND LOTS OF OTHER COOL STUFF AND YOUR TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN! ARE YOU DELIRIOUS DAD?"

"Okay Harry..."

"NO IT IS NOT OKAY! YOU SIT THERE AND BE EXCITED!"

At this point, Severus was rolling around on the floor laughing with Harry berating him for not being more excited aboutthe present he had got him. After a good thirty minutes of this happening, they remembered that there was one more present left to go. The box from James and Lily.

Harry pulled it towards him and looked at it. The laugher had died down and there was now a haunting silence. After a couple of minutes, Harry lifted a trembling hand and opened the box. He pulled out several hand written books which turned out to be journals hand written by both Lily and James. Lily's were about her life from eleven up to her death and the spells she created/found. Whilst James' were virtually the same however, instead of spell books he had uncensored joke books and a detailed book about the Marauders. After a brief smile at the chance to finally get to know more about his parents, he rooted around and pulled out some odd toys from their childhoods obviously muggle from Lily and wizarding from James. He then rooted around through the confetti and pulled out a small wrapped bundle. On the bundle read, 'For our sweet Harry on his second birthday. Can't wait for your next one! Mummy and Daddy'. Again, Harry's hands shook as he unwrapped it. Inside was a tiny soft toy lion which was red and gold and an old copy of 'the tale of the three brothers'. Inside the front cover was written, 'Passed down heir to heir from the first of the Peveralls to the last. Happy reading!' and a collection of names of who it belonged to. The last being James Charlus Potter. Each gift mended and tore Harry's heart a bit more… It wasn't until he picked up a delayed Howler inside a photo album until he completely broke down. With teary eyes, he turned over the first page and as if time had been re-written a young, vibrant red-headed, green-eyed woman stood there a head shorter than the willowy raven-haired boy next to her wearing glasses. They were hugging and looked to be around nineteen. As the photo album progressed, it was obvious how much these two people loved each other and the small messy haired bundle in their arms. The devotion and love continued as there were more pictures showing Harry's first steps and something, which they wouldn't have noticed at the time… In the background, Harry had had a burst of accidental magic and had turned Sirius' hair pink when falling over from loosing balance. With a small chuckle Harry closed the album and placed it carefully in the box. The last visible thing was the delayed howler. He toyed with the idea of opening it several times before putting on some courage and tearing the top open carefully to hear what was inside. Knowing that this was going to be especially important to Harry, Snape paid so much attention so that he could extract the memory and make a copy of it for Harry later on. Then they heard two voices nobody had heard for nearly a decade…

"Hi Harry it's your mum Lily _and the best dad in the world James._ Real mature James! _Ah Lils you know you love me!_ I do but this is supposed to be serious and extremely loving but you are acting like a prat! _I am wounded…_ Anyways, if you are listening to this Harry, it means that we are not there to share your special day with you and we are truly sorry. But never forget that we love you so much and would be there if we could. _If you think we wouldn't be, you would have to be bonkers kiddo! We love you so much and if we aren't there today I am going to haunt the person who stopped us as I am the mighty Prongs, leader of the Marauders!_ What he says is true except for being the leader of the Marauders. _You take that back Lily!_ Only if you behave so we can tell him everything! _Fine, let's do the boring stuff then I can do the cool stuff while you continue glaring at me! And before you say ANYTHING I know this is the only one we brought and I am damn well going to act like I normally do in it! This is for education reasons Lily. His education!_ Okay Drama Queen! Right only a couple of minutes left, damn you James!

If we are dead the person to blame is Peter Pettigrew as he was our secret keeper. _It would never be Sirius in a million years but, we have seen some of Dumbledore's plans in Lily's predictions and we need to tell the truth!_ Yes, Sirius is completely innocent as Dumbledore also convinced us to change to Pettigrew.

Anyway now on the fun-ish stuff. You have the genetic talent for occulmancy, animagus and metamorphisis. You may also have my seer abilities but I hope that they are dormant as they are a pain in a butt! _Trust me Harry they are but ,they could also protect you but, either way DO NOT under any circumstances take divination at Hogwarts! It is a hoax just like that Trelawny bimbo!_ While I do NOT approve of his language, he is telling the truth! There are also many secrets about Hogwart's, you will find these in one of the books, use them to the best of your ability. _Lily you make me so happy with your disregard for the rules._

 _Anyway, my bit now!_ _In the cover of the photo album are the family rings. We belong to the Potters, Peverall and we are closely related to the_ _B_ _lack family. We may also be the last relations of Godric Gryffindor but, I am not sure._ He is actually true, the Gryffindor family line has been hidden from the public unlike the others as it is the one with the most power in society. _Anyways, if you put on the two signet rings for Potter and Peverall then tap your wand three times on the tip, you can accio the sword of Gryffindor and it will appear in your hand instantly. Also I have compiled a collection of jokes for you which you can play at Hogwarts. I've been through them and have taken the horrible ones out as I went too far in some of them due to my jealousy of one of your mother's friends._ Who you have never apologised to. _I want to Lily but I don't know if I can face the man with the stuff we did to him. If you see this man, Severus Snape, and I am not alive please can you show him a memory of this even though it may be too late for an apology. Anyway back to the cheerful stuff. At Hogwarts, we Marauders created a map. It shows who is in the castle and where they are, if we have been there! It is your right by heritage as you are likely to be the eldest or only child of the Marauders! It is your time to shine_ _Prongslet_ _! Also use the cloak you won't get caught… as much._

Times nearly up honey… _Harry James Potter. Never forget that you are loved. If this war has turned out for the worse, I will continue apologising to you from above until I see you again. Also I will be convincing the Gods, if there are any, to help you in all ways of life. Please enjoy your life and don't be sad for us. Just live your life to the fullest with no regrets and remember we will see you again, even if I have to piss off every God and Devil in the world so they send me back to Earth!_ Couldn't have said it any better myself! Just know that we are both very stubborn so when we say we love you and will see you again, we won't take no for an answer. Goodbye and see you soon! _Bye Harr..."_

Silence dominated the room until all that could be heard was a small "Thank You. I can't wait to see you again". At that both adult and child were speechless thinking, they knew this was going to happen yet still they hoped it wouldn't. They are brave, stupid Gryffindors. They both mused this fondly with love radiating off of them. They sat in silence until 11am when the wizarding folk were going to turn up, trying to look and act like muggles.


	10. Chapter 10

Ellipsis at the end and start of speech are when the twins are talking.

Have fun reading!

* * *

Stepping out of the fireplace were three strangely dressed wizards. Draco was dressed in a frilly dress top and black trousers with a dicky bow looking like a street performer. Whist the twins wore wool jumpers with their initials on and very bright trousers. They looked at Harry and Harry looked at them. Harry was just in a normal top and jeans looking his friends up and down, trying to refrain a giggle. Noticing a chocked down giggle, Snape wondered what they were getting up to but as he entered he noticed why Harry was trying not to giggle. So he decided to make it worse.

"Misters Weasley, welcome to our home. Now may I ask why you are trying to blind us with your um… trousers. Ah, Mr Malfoy, do you not know that magic outside of school is illegal and I'm sure your father will not be pleased if you followed through with being a muggle street performer."

Harry was already on the floor laughing whilst, the three boys had turned an amusing shade of red. Seeing Harry laughing made Severus laugh as well and in turn made the three boys jump in a very scarred manner and led to even more time spent on the floor from Harry until the boys were clearly mortified. Then Snape thought it would only be fair to comment on the changes of clothes they had prepared for each boy upstairs, they had assumed this would happen and arranged clothes for them before hand. The boys took a while to get changed and then started yelling about a metal brick singing?

"Harry why does the metal in your house sing?"

"Yeah what charm did you use for that..."

"...We could use this sort of thing!"

Harry now thoroughly confused wandered up the stairs, trying to think if he left any active spells in his bedroom… When he got there he looked in and saw the two red heads picking up and prodding Harry's 'metal block' whilst Draco was trying to reach for the 'metal block' and inspect it for themselves and once again, Harry was pissing himself with laughter as the supposed 'metal block' was actually Harry's flip phone and one of his friends was ringing him. Taking a few steps forward, he grasped the phone, and answered the call with, "Hey Josh, is it alright if I call back later. The phone ringing and vibrating confused my nan so I need to explain to her it was and what I am doing!… Yeah I know! She's staring at me like I am crazy!… Really! I gotta go but I will definitely call you back now!… See ya Josh!" After finishing the conversation, he turned around and faced his three wizarding friends. They just stared at him as if he was mad as Harry had once again started to laugh at them. It was the twins who decided to finally decided to break Harry from his trance…

"Harry, mate, why did you start talking to charmed metal..."

"And why did you name it Josh? Awfully random..."

This just made Harry laugh even harder! After a good couple of minutes he had calmed down enough to explain what the 'singing metal block' was.

"Guys this is my mobile phone. It makes noise and vibrates when someone is trying to contact me. You were partially correct, we had to put some charms around it so my magic doesn't interfere with it. It took us ages but we found some that doesn't effect my magic or the electricity when I use it."

Draco finally joined the conversation, his horror struck look at his friends insanity finally fading, "But what is this 'mobile phone' thing and how does it work?" The twins seemed to agree with this question whilst Harry just stared at them, having no idea that the wizarding world was that ignorant of muggle technologies.

"A mobile phone is a portable communication device. When someone wants to talk to you, they put your number in then it sends a signal to a satelitte to the persons phone then they are connected and you can talk to each other… I don't really know how, but I think that's it. Forge, Gred, why don't you ask your dad? He does work with muggle stuff doesn't he?

"Well now that you say that Harry..."

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea..."

"Now Harry, an important question..."

"Very important indeed..."

"Where do we get one of those..."

"Mobile phone thingies?"

Even though Draco was getting a tad annoyed with their sentences, he fully agreed with the prospect of getting a mobile phone as they seemed much more efficient then owl mail and not as weird as other means of communication. They continued this conversation going down the stairs about mobile phones and met up with Snape in the front room. By now, they had concluded that they each had enough money for mobile phones on them and for ten pounds credit all that was left to do was to convince one Severus Snape to take them to the shops to get them. They had decided that Draco would be the best to convince him.

"Godfather?"

"You want something don't you?"

"Why ever would you say that?"

"You only call me godfather when you want something or when you have done something. Seeing that you lot are gathered at my house and have only been here thirty minutes I gathered you wouldn't have done anything requiring my input."

"Um yes, you are correct."

Seeing that Draco was losing the battle, and with the twins' ability of finishing each others sentences being very annoying to Snape, Harry thought it would be best to step in as he was more likely to win the battle and it being his birthday, would surely win him a few extra points.

"Sev, all they really want is to ask you a small favour."

"And what would that be?"

"Well all we really want is a short trip into the village centre as they have never been here before and would like to visit the town and some of the muggle shops. They brought some money with them and they have changed it into pounds before coming here. They are very prepared and if we don't teach them about muggle culture, who will? All of them are from pure-blood wizarding families, and they didn't have an idea about mobile phones!"

"Good argument, now tell me the real reason."

"They have about twenty-five pounds each and would like to buy some muggle technology as it is much more efficient then wizarding in some areas. Also, they knew that we would be taking them out for a meal laterbut they didn't know that we were paying so I suggested this as we still have three hours before the others arrive. Also, it would be weird if they didn't have much knowledge of muggle technology at a muggle party wouldn't it Sev?"

"True, but..."

"Great! So when are we leaving, we should really head off as soon as possible so we won't be late for my party!"

"… We will leave in ten minutes."

Snape walked off, murmuring under his breath about making someone too smart for his age, how was he going to survive in potions next year with his on in his class and sneaky Slytherin ass tactics. While Harry's friends just looked at him and somehow all at once they said, "You just out talked Snape!" All Harry could reply in that moment was, "The idiot brought me up! What else would you expect?" But still, all three of his friends were dumbfounded.

Exactly ten minutes later, they left for the shops. After arriving, they went in a few out of courtesy, the boys buying a few cheap things to keep suspicion off of their true tactics for coming to town. Then they went to the second hand technology shop and immediately, spotted cheap mobile phones for the three of them. While Snape was looking around the music isle, the boys brought the phones, sims and put money on their phones. When Snape returned, he noticed the bags and realised that he had indeed been schooled by his son. Even though they knew that they had been found out, they still acted as if they wanted to go around the shops and finally went to a sweet shop before heading back to Snape's house and somehow this shop had confused them the most.

First off was the newspapers and then it was the actual sweets. Draco went paler than he normally was at the sight of the newspapers and after several prods, unbecoming of a pureblood heir, he turned to interrogate Harry.

"Harry? The pictures aren't moving."

"No they are not."

"Why not? The people in pictures don't stay there all day, so why aren't they moving?"

"I don't know? They just don't in the muggle world."

"Are they forced to stay there?"

"I don't think so… I don't think that they are brought to life like wizarding photos. I think they are just stills of memories instead of being the memory… if that makes sense."

"Okay… I think."

Whilst this was going on, the twins had come back from the sweet isle, quite disappointed. They also heard this conversation and had picked up the newspaper to have a look for themselves. Their shock levels had gone through the roof and it seemed to be their turn to interrogate Harry.

"First we can't find any chocolate frogs or any Bertie Bott's beans..."

"Now the pictures don't move..."

"Guys that stuff is purely wizarding, please calm down, the store owner is giving us strange looks!"

"But Harry..."

"we don't understand!"

"You heard my conversation with Draco about the pictures,"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Right, the sweets we have in the wizarding world are limited with their flavours as they are made differently and they do not have the charms to make moving sweets. Therefore you just have very basic sweets that are different and very sugary. Do you want me to show you some of my favourites?"

"Yeah we think..."

"that might be easiest!"

After these slightly weird conversations, Harry took all of them to the sweet isle and showed them his favourite sweets. In the end, they ended upcoming out with bars of Cadbury's chocolate and a few bags of normal jelly beans and Skittles. After a conversation with the shop keeper, they all relaxed and left, no longer receiving weird looks at his friends behaviour by simply saying that they are his friends from Ireland and they have different things there, knowing that the man had never been to Ireland and didn't know anything about it.

On the way home, Harry let out an exclamation as he had forgotten to phone his friend back. With that he quickly pulled his phone out and rang Josh. It turned out that he didn't need to as as they rounded the corner to their house, Josh was walking to their house. Harry called out and ran ahead to meet his friend and to introduce him to the three wizards behind him.

"Hey Josh! Sorry I forgot to phone you back, I had to pick up my friends from the train station."

"That's okay Harry! But I needed to ask you something in private."

"Okay, why don't we walk ahead and talk."

"Okay."

After notifying the party behind him about needing a private chat, he ran back to Josh and restarted their conversation.

"So, what did you need to talk about?"

"You know my cousin Hermione?"

"Yeah, I met her a couple of times when I came around yours."

"Well she is going to the same boarding school as you."

"Is she?"

"Yes and I finally know what your secret is as she told me what she was."

"And what was that?"

"A wizard Harry, you are a mother fucking wizard! Why didn't you tell me? I'm your best friend aren't I?"

"Yeah you are Josh! But we've always been told to keep what we are a secret so we don't get hunted down and targetted again. People are still scarred about the witch trials and if the news got out that witches and wizards are real, the person who caused it can go to jail."

"That's what Hermione said."

"Well she is Hermione, what would you expect?"

"That's why I'm not really mad at you!"

"Okay then, but I get that there is more."

"I know that you think she can handle herself, but look out for her can you. She still is an 'excitable' student and you know how that is."

"Yup!"

"Did I just hear the great Harry Potter say 'Yup'? Oh I must go and tell Sev."

"Oh no you don't!"

But Josh had already ran away and was close to Snape but Harry was not about to back down to a challenge! Picking up the speed, he was catching up to Josh. Josh noticing was beginning to shout to Severus, "HEY SEV, BET YOU CAN'T GUESS WHAT HAROLD JUST SAID! HE JUST SAID..." By that time Harry had caught up and had clamped his hand around Josh's mouth. He then decided to land Josh in it with Severus by saying, "Josh knows." This caused attention to turn onto Josh from the four people in-front of him. Seeing what they had just landed each other into, they ran off towards the house. Closely followed by the three boys and Severus using his Hogwarts stride.

Once the doors had shut behind them Severus started the interrogation.

"Josh how do you know?"

"Hermione."

"Did she indicate to herself as a muggle-born?"

"Yes..."

"Okay well you can tell her that you have met her potions teacher and some of her class mates."

All of the boys, including Harry, stood there shell shocked at how that played out. But not before facepalming at how Snape suddenly turned back to Josh saying, "Now what did Harry say?" Josh not being able to gather his wits quick enough just replied with, "Yep." That was all Snape needed to diffuse the tention.

"HADRIAN JAMES POTTER, IN WHAT UNIVERSE HAVE I TAUGHT YOU THAT IT IS OKAY TO USE DISPICABLE TERMS LIKE YEP?"

At this Harry was done. He was just done. So he sat there and came up with the best retort ever as it was his birthday and no way was he going to lose a verbal battle on his goddamn birthday.

"OY SEV MATE, DON'T TELL ME WAT WORDS I CAN AND CAN'T USE. I BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH INIT BRUV"

The wizarding boys in the room hit the floor laughing. The muggle boy just sat on the floor his eyes popping out of his head. The Snape in the room was turning into Rudolph the red nose reindeer. The Snape was also not going to back down so easily and he knew just how to make Harry angry.

"Sorry I couldn't understand you, you spoke like a chav."

"You did not just call me a chav."

"I believe I did. C. H. A. V."

"Oh BRUV if you believe that, just you wait."

"Wait for what?"

Snape was confused but Draco wasn't. He knew what was about to happen as he found the books about wandless transfiguration of clothes and had practised it with Harry. But Harry had seemingly taken it a step forward. Standing in-front of them, Harry had transfigured his clothes into what Snape had believed 'chavvy'. Blue tracksuited, flat capped and drenched in chains with HJP on, Harry stepped up to Snape and said, "What ya lookig at Bruv."

The boys were on the floor pissing themselves with laughter as the battle had reached it climax and Snape looked even paler than Draco had in the corner shop. The battle would have gone further if the door bell hadn't gone. Harry quickly changed back, finally introduced Josh to Fred, George and Draco and opened the door to let his other friends in.

After several hours with his mates from school and the three wizarding boys. They had successfully tired out Snape and booby trapped the whole house. The boys from Harry's school left around five with promises to keep in contact with the boy regardless if they kept the end of the bargain of sending more jokes down to them, designed by Harry and Fred and George. The three wizards had hit it off with the muggle boys and also promised to keep in contact. After an exchanging of phone numbers, the boys from Harry's school left leaving Draco, Fred, George and Josh and a very large tomato and cheese pizza.

Over the pizza, the boys bonded and educated each other somehow. By the end of the night, the boys had planned up to meet again and had successfully set up all phones and charms surrounding them. With goodbyes to all four, Harry sat down and rifled through the house looking for the animagus potion. After finding the potion on the bookshelf, he sat it down on the coffee table waiting for Snape to return to the living room.

After a few minutes filled with cleaning charms, Snape returned and saw that even though it was now eleven o'clock in the evening, Harry was still awake, excited and wanting to find out his animagus form.

"We aren't even going to talk about your great time today before you take the potion are we?"

"Nope."

"Okay then, down in one and this one has been refined to show a projection of what your form will be instead of turning you into it. If you had used one to turn yourself into the form, it would of hindered your actual transformation as you already possess the genetic material for it."

"Okay, here I go."

One eye roll later, a large midnight black wolf sat on the table. It had unique white markings that looked like antlers and for some reason, it had doe like eyes that were a bright emerald green. Harry of course loved the look of the animal as it was so unique that nobody would be able to name the species. Snape on the other hand, even though he though the animal was majestic, let out a moan of, "Only you!"


	11. Chapter 11

Whilst Harry had been in his temporary transformation, he had fallen asleep. It hadn't started off like that of course…

The moment after Harry had admired his new form in a reflection in the window, he had immediately started to chase his tail. Yes, the now eleven year old boy, who knew it was the biggest cliché in the book, was chasing his own tail in the living room. Severus just stood there absolutely shell shocked as his too-mature-for-his-own-good eleven year old, was circling in front of him, chasing his tail. After about fifty unsuccessful turns, he had grown angry at not being able to catch his own tail but being as stubborn as his mother was, he continued on in hopes of catching it and somehow he did… whilst running around in a circle. Do not ask Severus how he had done it as it really shouldn't have been possible for a dog to coil around like that. After he had succeeded, Harry simply curled up onto the sofa and fell asleep quite peacefully in his animagus form. It was really quite sweet… so sweet that Snape actually took a muggle picture of it and got it print for his trusted family friend's Christmas cards.

After finally leading Harry back upstairs as a human, they both settled for the night, ready for their training the next day.

Unfortunately for Snape, Harry must have believed that sleep was for the weak today and woke up around 6:30am eager for training. After pleading his adopted son to go back to bed, he was dragged mercilessly to the kitchen and served a seriously black coffee. Two coffees later and Severus was not happy to be in the world of the awake, even so, he marched over to the training plan he had created last time and added a few more exercises to it in punishment for Harry's wake up call. Ten laps, fifty push ups and six useful potions added to the list, Snape was finally awake and quite pleased with himself.

Around ten, Harry had finished his 'warm up' and was getting ready to learn more defensive and effectively offensive spells as what is the use of a defensive spell if you don't know what it is strong and what it is weak against. As Snape was trying to decide what the best one was to try and learn first, he thought practically and decided on _finite incantatum_ as it was probably the most useful for a first year, especially one as focused and encouraged in jokes as Harry was. It was time to begin lesson one.

"You remember how to focus your magic to create spells."

"Of course."

You could tell that he felt insulted by his steely look but luckily, he let Severus continue on. Severus guessed that the house must still have some jokes in it for Harry to not talk back to him.

"Today you shall be learning the _finite incantatum_ charm. This can essentially stop any spell however, in a faced paced duel, the magic it takes to stop an incoming spell is quite draining and your intent has to be greater than the person you are duelling. A bonus of knowing this charm is that any joke that goes too far or is becoming dangerous, that was created via spell, you can prevent from becoming dangerous. Also, being able to do this wandlessly, will help if you are battling someone with a weak will as you can cast it wandlessly in one hand then, cast a spell with your want afterwards with your other hand. However, it can be very draining so only do it if you are desperate. You must remember that the intent and initial power of the spell will affect if you are able and how much magic it will take."

"Okay, I think I understand. So if someone shot a memory spell or one of the unforgiveables at me and I couldn't get out of the way, to do this spell with one hand that attack with the other. Why can't you do them at the same time?"

"It will be too taxing on your magical core and the spells would be weaker cast together rather than one after the other. However, avoid people who are likely to use these spells as your magical core is still expanding and may not be able to handle a _finite incantatum_ of that calibre yet"

"Okay, then how am I going to practise it?"

"I have enchanted some dummies in the attic with spells that a beginner's should counteract."

"Let's do this."

As Harry ran upstairs, he could hear a mumble of "Gryffindor optimism..." and decided that he would get it first try, just to show up his guardian.

"Right Harry, I want you to point your hand at the dummies, as you would for any other spell, channel your magic and focus on preventing the spell from taking place and desiring it to be gone from existence. Then say the magic words whilst, focusing on effectively stopping the spell."

"Okay."

Harry stood there for a couple of minutes, directing the flow of his magic to the palm of his right hand and concentrating on the spell and the effects he wanted. He then snapped his eyes open, glaring at the dummy with a fierce intensity until he created the shape of a finger gun with his hand and chanted _finite incantatum._ Snape stood there gob-smacked as he had got it the first time then he realised that Harry must have heard him on the stairs, seemingly insulting him, and had decided that he would do it right the first time to show his mentor up. 'Stubborn Gryffindor.' Snape fondly thought to himself. He really had inherited Lily's personality!

Still feeling angry about Snape's sarcastic remarks, Harry made sure that he had nearly perfected the spell wandlessly before lunch and then decided to make this the general trend for the day. Snape would set up a small task and Harry would complete it every time without looking like he was having any trouble. However, on the inside, Harry was exhausted and cursed himself endlessly for waking up at such a god awful hour in the holidays. If it was term time, he would have no problem waking up at 6:30am as that was the time he had to get up but OH NO he, Harry James Potter, just had to wake up early in August. After lunch, a break both Snape and Harry were desperate for, they moved onto the animagus transformation.

"As you showed yesterday Harry, your animagus is a midnight black wolf with unique white markings and green, doe shaped eyes. It is a unique and personally modified animagus meaning you have made it harder for yourself."

"It's what I live to do."

"Why yes, yes it is..."

"Ohhhhh snappy, is someone tired?"

"Quite hypocritical are we? Today you will start partial transformations on your hands. Once you perfect your transformation, these may be harder for you to do as your body will automatically want to go to the other form."

"Okay, so how do I do a partial transformation?"

"You need to visualise the paw and all it's traits such as the fur and the claws. Once you've visualised what it is supposed to look like you need to desire the change just as you would for wandless magic."

"Okay then..."

Apparently, Harry's feather's were still ruffled from the earlier comment as after around 30 minutes of visualising and focusing his magic on his desire, he managed a partial transformation on his hands. Sprouting out of Harry's once pale hands were thick midnight black fur. As more and more hairs became visible, his finger nails began to elongate into short claws. This continued until both his hands were covered in the dark hairs and the tips of his fingers became deadly claws. Opening his eyes, Harry looked down and sighed in relief at being able to do the transformation and that his hands were exactly as he visualised them, if not more like Wolverine, which Harry believed to be more 'bad ass' anyway! However, this happiness was short lived as his hands changed back to normal and he crashed onto the floor, exhausted. Snape was petrified, even though he knew what the problem was, and quickly picked up Harry folding him against his chest in a littlep bundle and hurried him to his room to cast diagnostic spells on him. After a few minutes, Snape began to calm down as it was only acute magical exhaustion meaning he would be up again in time for tea hopefully.

Away in a Scottish castle, an elderly man sat twinkling his eyes. When his eyes twinkled, he was up to something or his plan had worked. This time, his plan had worked and he now had the upper hand in manipulating Harry Potter and the rest of Hogwarts to his desire. Hagrid, the gullible man, sat in front of Dumbledore speculating what house Harry was going to be in. Hagrid believed that he would either be a Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor as there was 'no way in'ell that Lily and James' boy was gonna be Slytherin'. These results pleased Dumbledore very much as Hagrid used to be indifferent to the house rivalry but now, now Hagrid was going to alienate the Slytherins as much as the others soon would. The 'grandfatherly' man listened to Hagrid but didn't pay any attention as he knew what house that boy was going to be in and that house was Gryffindor whether he liked it or not.

After Hagrid left, he began to brew the potions for the rest of his staff members. On the 31st of August they would be here for the annual meal and they would be here for their new personalities. Even though Dumbledore was confident in his plan, he knew to be wary of some of the teachers. Most of them like Trelawny and Sinitra would digest the potion without realising as although they both could 'predict the future', he doubted that they would see t his coming! He knew to be wary of Minerva as even though she would digest the potion with her food unknowingly, she usually worked off potions quite quickly if she went into her animagus form to heal however, the most difficult person was going to be Severus Snape. The snake in the grass was going to be caught out when his students started acting like brats instead of using there required sneakiness, cunning and ambition that they previously did. Also ,what would happen when his fellow professors turned on him? All Dumbledore knew was that Snape had to digest the potion somehow so that he would expect this treatment to be normal and so he would turn back into the gullible git he was when he was a student. Calming himself down with his Lemon Drops, he began to brew again, planning his old and new manipulations to a higher degree.

Snape sneezed, 'Great,' he thought,'someone's talking about me again. Probably the old coot planning something…' Snapes thoughts about Dumbledore were about to get darker and a lot more snarkier. However, as he heard Harry stirring, he knew that he would need to keep the boy in bed and tell him to read up on Occulmancy instead of trying it, as just coming out of an exhausted state, could be harmful to the stabilisation of the core, especially at this stage. Apparently, that argument would be for much later as Harry was clearly not properly awake.

"What happen Sev?"

"You magically exhausted yourself again. Remember what I told you last time?"

"Yeah. Tired means stop but I keep going because you made snarky comment in mornin..."

"Okay Harry, I'm sorry for making the comment but, you don't normally listen to me anyway."

"You said I had the G thingy."

"Yes I did now come downstairs. You need to eat now and sleep later okay. Or you will never get up tomorrow to practise defense spells, okay?"

"Okay. Night, night."

"Harry! Wake up!"

"Hmmm..."

"Right, you are coming with me."

"Hmm"

With that Snape picked up the once again bundled little boy and carried him downstairs to the dinner table. After sitting there, he magically cooked some beans on toast for them. During eating, Harry began to feel more and more awake. Snape had finally got into the meal and used to the silence when Harry began his usual tirade from waking up after magical exhaustion.

"How did I get down here?"

"I carried you down for tea after you refused to wake up properly after your magical exhaustion."

Harry then realised what he was eating…

"Why are we eating beans on toast?"

"Because you should eat it after magical exhaustion as it gives you the portion, energy and warmth you need to acquire after you have exhausted yourself magically."

"I still don't understand that. Surely you need high energy foods after exhaustion to refill your body stores."

"That's why you have the Carbohydrates."

"Slow release energy in high quantities?"

"That is correct. I still don't understand how you know something normally taught in secondary school about how the body gets energy yet you still do not understand the healthy food pyramid you did in year five..."

Then silence reigned as Harry was trying to come up with how he knew that but didn't know why he did. After, he just gave up trying to come up with an answer and decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"When are we going to start learning Occulmancy"

"Tomorrow night."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because you magically exhausted yourself."

"But I am awake now."

"Harry, do you want to damage your magical core?"

"No."

"Do you want Dumbledore to manipulate you?"

"No."

"That means you are reading theory tonight."

"No."

"That was a statement Harry."

"No."

"Are you going to keep on saying no until I let you try Occulmancy?"

"No?"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU ARE RESTING TONIGHT OR DO YOU WANT ME TO GET NARCISSA AROUND TO LOOK AFTER YOU?"

And, bingo! Snape had said the right thing. Narcissa was a demon when she was looking after you, she was worse than Poppy Pomfrey and that is saying something. The last time she had to look after Harry when he was ill and he disobeyed her, she put enchantments up on his door and took all the flavourings out of his potions so they tasted as disgusting as they looked. Harry grimaced at that memory whilst, Snape chuckled. Ever since then, Harry had refused to get more than the sniffles so that Narcissa didn't have to look after him.

After tea was cleared away, Harry took up the sofa and read his book on occulmancy then getting bored, he surveyed the map of the house to see what pranks had been left unnoticed by Snape. He counted a lonely three, he had taught that man well, too well… As Harry half studied, half plotted, he watched his adopted father falling asleep in the arm chair next to him, obviously not having recovered from the previous day. He grabbed a fleece from the airing cupboard under the stairs, draped it over his adoptive father and wandered off to bed, trying to suppress a yawn of his own.


	12. Chapter 12

When Snape awoke, he was a little disorientated but, an unexpected sofa sleep always did that to the man. He looked around groggily before noticing the blanket draped over his right side, the man hid a little smile as he noticed little footsteps trying to tiptoe around upstairs. Severus Snape sat down not being able to hide his smile anymore as he heard an excited squeak come from upstairs. It was moments like then when he realised that Harry was really eleven and that the squeak was because he was finally up because just like Harry, it was eleven. With pride, he realised that Harry had let him sleep in today instead of pestering him to get up and teach him. One adoring smile later, he called Harry down and began to plan the day out.

"Thank you for covering me up last night Harry and allowing me a lay in."

"It's all right."

"Well, we better have breakfast and then we will begin training, okay?"

"Yes!"

After a pleasing breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, they began the defensive training.

"Right, I want you to cast finite incantatem and tell me how much strain you feel on your magical core."

Snape cast Rictusempra (a/n endless tickling jinx) on Harry. After a moment of shock appearing on Harry's face, he was on the floor laughing with tears in his eyes trying to cast the spell verbally would be impossible in the state Harry was in and this is why he did it, he was forcing Harry to cast it non-verbally which after a minute he did. After casting finite incantatem to end the tickling jinx, Harry sat there hyperventilating with a peaceful smile on his face. He knew why Snape had done it that way and was happy that Severus had that much faith in him but that didn't mean retribution was not promised. Snape knew from the glint in Harry's happy eyes that he would pay for that later, no doubt the traps in the house would be upped, with the laughing jinx added to them and input from the twins. 'At least Draco isn't involved in the pranks towards him.' Snape thought to himself but, little did Snape know, Draco was Harry's trump card!

Tense moments and many promises later, they concluded that although it took him a minute to cast the counter, it didn't affect Harry's magical core as much as yesterday so, after three more attempts at the silent, wandless finite incantatem, they settled for lunch already ahead of schedule due to Harry's stubbornness.

After lunch, they went onto the animagus transformation. Again, Snape asked Harry to transform his hands into his paws and almost immediately, he achieved it. This time he managed all of the transformations to do with his hands and he managed to fully transform his arms up to his elbows before going on to try and transform his feet. The startling black hair sprung up in luxurious locks and you could see the beginnings of white markings. After several minutes in this form, Harry was able to walk on his paws without pain and influence the growth of his nails. However, noticing fatigue, they stopped after that and had a fun afternoon going around the park.

At the park, they went to the lake where Harry spoke his first word and had a relaxing afternoon there. Somehow both ending up drenched, most likely due to Harry's promise of retribution, they walked home talking about their trip and when to have their friends around. In the end, they negotiated for every weekend for seeing Josh and Hermione, the Malfoy's at least once a week and the twins, whenever they could sneak away which was somehow a lot!

Once they got back they had a quick tea and went straight to Occulmancy as that would take they better part of the evening away. Fuelling a tiring Harry up was easy as all it took was a hot meal and a small glass of cola. One of the reasons Snape rarely aloud fizzy drinks into the house. Every time someone brought cola for Harry, Snape would have nightmares of what happened the first time he had cola. Bouncing off of the walls, literally, and babbling nonsense about clouds and nymphs for two hours until Snape had to relent and call forth the wrath of Narcissa. After she arrived, she quickly potioned Harry into a calmful state then gave Snape a lecture about caffeine and how it could affect Harry and turn him into a 'brain dead gopher', like her cousin, Sirius Black.

Thinking of Black, Snape had been petitioning for the evidence to the case that sent him to Azkaban for years because even he knew that Sirius was devoted to James and Lily and wouldn't give them up in the heart beat even through torture meaning someone else was the secret keeper. The only thing he didn't understand was why Black never had a proper trial with Veritaserum. Even though Snape hated the man, he appreciated how much the stupid mutt meant to Harry. He had tried to get case details however, as the Wizengamot was fully controlled by Dumbledore, he knew he didn't have much of a chance.

Back to the task at hand, Harry was starting to grow restless so he began with the lesson.

"How did your reading go?"

"I read about the ways it is taught properly and what to try and do and how to force certain memories to the back of your mind."

"Okay, you have the basic theory down. We are going to start with mediatating and clearing our minds. We will do this every night until I think you are able to clear your mind and build brilliant shields so that people cannot read your thoughts, memories or emotions."

"So a lot of meditation before you begin to attack my mind."

"Yes, I don't want to damage your natural walls in favour of artificial ones."

"Okay, so what should I do first?"

"Sit down cross legged, close your eyes and copy my breathing pattern. Once you have done this, clear your mind of all thoughts and focus on nothing. You do not want any active thoughts in your brain. I want you to zone out completely as if you were falling asleep."

"Here I go..."

After about half an hour, Harry stopped biting his lip and visually relaxed. His shoulders slumped and innocence washed onto his face. As he started to breathe in and out calmly, Snape fed him gentle instructions on building up shields around his mind. After two hours, Snape broke Harry out of his trance and after lazily blinking around, he fell asleep where he was. Severus had to restrain the urge to facepalm as he had to, yet again, carry Harry into his bedroom.

TIMESKIP TO 16th AUGUST

Through out the holidays, both Harry and Snape had built up a good schedule but today the 'twin terrors', as Snape called them, were staying for three days, as a congratulations, as Snape knew that today would be one of his final days of training. Harry had somehow learnt all the spells and counters that Snape had set up yesterday and today he would be completing his animagus transformation throughout the day. The only thing Harry was truly having trouble with was Occulmancy and it annoyed Harry to no end as that was the most important to learn. Snape believed that was why! Harry often learned things that were fun much quicker than things that were necessary!

As they entered the attic one last time, they shared a fond smile at their time spent there and then began the final stages.

"You know what day it is and you know what to do so, are you ready."

"Yes, yes, YES!"

"All right then, off you go. After you finish the initial transformation, you will need to learn how to walk properly as a wolf and learn what talents you have. You will be able to do this by focusing on your inner wolf. After you do this, I want you to transform into your animagus two more times again for at least thirty minutes each time so you can familiarise yourself with the transformation."

"Okay!"

After a few seconds, Harry transformed flawlessly and Snape knew that he had perfected this a long time ago as Harry's metamorphosis DNA, from his grandmother, would have made the transformation easier! Once he saw Harry pretend to not be able to walk properly. He thought he would play along as he knew magical wolves had telepathic communication with those he considered his pack. And so, the interrogation began…

"Well you are just full of surprises aren't you!"

"WOOF _Of course I am especially since I completed this three nights ago and have been sleeping in this form occasionally."_ (a/n: Italics are Harry speaking telepathically)

"This should be impossible to get on your first try."

" _Well it did take me twenty minutes when I first tried that but he won't know that!"_

"I won't know that you completed the transformation three days ago?"

" _Nope you won't know!_ "

"Or that you have been occasionally sleeping in it?"

" _Nope!"_

"Nor that you know the facts about magical wolves and their packs?"

" _No… wait what?"_

"Harry, as you consider me part of your 'pack' you can talk to me telepathically or did you forget."

" _Shit."_

"Indeed. Now find out what talents your wolf has and what magical wolves are actually like you imbecile."

" _Now that's just harsh..."_

"Come on Harrison."

" _You did not just 'Harrison' me!"_

"I believe I did and I believe you deserve it for trying your transformation without me there. "

"..."

"Anyway, do you want to do this now and prank the twins or, do you want to take a while and the twins arrive seeing you practise and you can't trick them?"

" _Okay then..._ "

"That's a good boy."

Harry's eyebrow twitched noticeably with that and Snape felt accomplished _._ After a couple of hours of exploration, Harry was completely comfortable with his transformation and knew what skills his animagus had. After transforming back he told Snape of all the normal abilities then just casually threw in about being able to change the size of his animagus and still being able to do magic in his animagus form.

"Harry that is extraordinary!"

"It is?"

"Yes. Most people cannot change the size of their animagus let alone complete spells in it! It is really rare!"

"Oh, okay… This will make the prank even more interesting with the twins then."

"I think your missing the point."

"Nope, I got it, I'm just expanding my horizons."

With a merry skip away, Harry left Snape standing there dumbfounded as he prepared for the twins' arrival.

The twins arrived around tea time after getting Lee Jordan to cover for them with their mum, something about 'a master prankster who was about to enter Hogwarts needing to be initiated'. Lee didn't mind nor cared, he had done this in the past for the twins just as they had for him if they ever needed to make an 'incognito' trip to Zonkos. However, once they arrived, the horrors for Snape began.

First, they simply asked him to show them joke potions. But, Harry then remembered his censored journals from his parents. After the twins bowed to the Marauder's son, they began to experiment around the house on Snape. The most annoying one was the charm put on his robes which made them turn pink whenever he entered a room with other people in. Of course that happened to be the day that they were visiting Diagon Alley so everytime he went into a shop, Poof, pink robes. Harry and the twins laughed everytime. However, that was not the worse one by far. On the last day, Snape needed to have a serious conversation over the flue with some potion contractors. During this time the twins created a minefield of pranks which were the most cringe worthy jokes ever, like a pie in the face, and there was absolutely no organisation to where they were placed. Snape stupidly thought this was it but, one should never doubt these pranksters, each time a trap was hit, the joke went directly to the closest person who wasn't keyed into the jokes. This meant Snape was hit everytime until an unsuspecting Lucius swept out of the flue, just as Severus had finished his call, for an important conversation. After he was hit, chaos descended as everyone in the house was located using a heat sensing charm and had blackcurrant pies rain on them. After a good ten minutes, everything was over and they got berated from Narcissa, who had swept through the flue with Draco, only to be hit with pies. Even though he knew that was payback for what happened on the morning of the second day, Snape could not help but hold a grudge whilst reminiscing.

On the morning of the second day, Snape and Harry had planned to scare the twins using Harry's animagus transformation as he would be sharing a room with them. Once they had woken up, the twins planned to prank Harry, predicting this, Harry slept in his animagus transformation scaring the twins. After they returned to their senses, they rushed off to get Snape and Harry quickly transformed back into a human just in time for Snape to come in. After he had left again, Harry turned into a wolf whilst they weren't looking and pounced on them. Snape came back in to the planned screams about wolves, while Harry turned miniature and secured himself a place on Fred's shoulder as he was standing up. They walked downstairs to meet a glamoured mannequin which looked like Harry, this mannequin was puppeted by Snape as he drank his coffee whilst Harry set the Rictusempra on the twins at serious points in the conversation. After the meal had ended, Harry did the finale and dropped a quick potion in their drinks to turn their hair pink and give them bunny ears (Snape's personal addition that he had wanted to use for the past three years on the twins). With the potion added, Harry returned to his normal state and took a bow alongside Snape to the horror of the Weasley twins who had been well and truly duped.

Those three days had been long but pleasurable for both of them. It was also nice for Snape to know that Harry had the twins on his side because even though they were devils in disguise, they were good moral compasses and were very loyal.

TIME SKIP 22nd AUGUST

Harry had nearly completed basic Occulmancy. He could keep people a little less powerful than snape out for over an hour but, he knew it would have to be like Fort Knox to keep Dumbledore out so they were continuing the lessons. In the end, they planned to create a mind palace so Harry could have a memory that resembled being eidetic and that he could pull fake memories up quickly as a secondary protection. However for the day, Harry would be meeting with Josh and Hermione as even though Josh wasn't attending Hogwart's with them, he was just as excited to learn about this new world.

After lunch, they arrived and as soon as she entered the door, Hermione called Severus 'Professor' and was ecstatic to get a 'head start'. Snape had assumed this and had copied one of the books he had made when he was a first year so that Hermione could see what was expected of her. She took the book and made her gratitude very well known up to the point of Severus laughing and telling her to calm down. After all, it was not like he didn't know her for most of her life. Before the children could mess about, Severus warned Hermione about his classroom manner and told her that if she stuck her hand up into the air 'looking as if she was going to expel her bowels', she would be ignored. Warning through, the children ran off and Harry told Hermione everything he knew about Hogwarts and what magic he could do before he was forcefully interrogated by both Josh and Hermione!

After showing them his transformation and wandless magic, which he had promised to help Hermione with, the children sat companionably, thinking it was weird how they were going to be separated for such a long period of time and how they were going to get their post to Josh because they would be sending him wizarding things of course however, at one's new school, one's mail could not simply turn up by means of owl!

After a long and pleasurable day, Josh and Hermione went home, sad that they were unable to meet up with Harry again that summer holiday. After they left, Harry needed something to occupy his mind with so he begged Snape with his eleven year winning streak's puppy dog eyes. Practise went perfectly and Harry's shields were becoming more like Fort Knox everyday.

TIMESKIP 31st AUGUST

Snape had never felt like a doting parent before! But as the day came to an end, he found himself fretting more and more about Harry's safety and his packing skills as Harry was not an organised eleven year old. After several replies of 'yes, I've packed that!" Harry barricaded himself in his room and told Severus to take a magical list of what was in his trunk through a diagnostic charm. Snape face-palmed at his own stupidity and did exactly as the eleven year old had rudely stated.

Before going to bed that night, they had to have the conversation and clarify how he was supposed to act.

"Tomorrow will sadly be the start of your acting career."

"I know, just when I can open myself to the wizarding world, I have to act like an ignorant child."

"Don't say 'child' with such contempt as you are one. I know that and even though I can't apologise for the whole wizarding population, I am sorry. Now you know our acts don't you?"

"I have to be gulliable and polite to everyone I see and pretend that I know next to nothing of the wizarding world. I was raised by a squib after he noticed my magical presence at a muggle orphanage my family dumped me at. Anyway, you have the worst role, you have to pretend that you like Dumbledore and are one of his sheep. Just like you have to do in five minutes at the staff meal. I hope you have a good counter potion in your system as I know something is going to happen tonight otherwise it wouldn't have been so late or secretive."

"You are right. I have a counter potion I created myself with will block all other potions and some memory spells from entering my system for just over six hours. It should give me a list of what potions or memory spells that should have affected me and the counters."

"So that's what you've been doing at night."

"Yes, I anticipated that something might happen when he convinced Fudge to pass the decree detailing that all teachers must give a sample of their blood and magical signature over to the head master 'in case of an emergency'. Now I must be off, I cannot ruse to old coots suspicions more than I have already!"

"Okay then, good night and if you let anything happen to you a pie will be coming towards your face!"

"It's funny how the most cliché muggle joke amuses you, when magic gives you so many other options!"

"I know but, people are ignorant and do not expect it!"

"Wise words. Goodnight Harry"

"Goodnight Dad."

Harry only said that when he was estatic or genuinely worried about him. Knowing this, Snape took it into account when going to the meal that night, unleashing his full bout of paranoia.

At the meal, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary except for the time. Many other professors were also confused at the time period but enjoyed the meal anyway. Through to the third course, everything seemed to be normal until desert when he smelled a weird aroma off of his desert. As he was drawing the attention of many people, he politely began conversation.

"May I enquire what is in this dish headmaster, it has a peculiar aroma"

"Ah Severus, it is a concoction I asked the house elves to prepare myself. In favour of the wonderful muggle sweet, Lemon Drops, I asked the elves to prepare each separate desert with a hint of candied lemon. Is it not to your liking?"

"No, it is fine. I was merely checking as it smelt similar to a sleeping potion."

"Oh don't be silly my boy, why would the house elves want to send anyone to sleep?"

"I know headmaster, it simply peaked my interest."

Seeing that he was backed into a corner, he began to eat his desert and was mimicking the behaviour of everyone else whilst, Dumbledore arrogantly ate away. After time though as his fellow staff began to fall asleep, he started to act normally again spiking Dumbledore's interest.

"Your not going to ask why your colleagues are falling asleep?"

"No, you are behind it so why do I have to point this fact out?"

"I suppose I should ask what you were doing today."

"It would be the greatest of social suicides not to."

"Ever the joker Severus, so what were you doing today?"

"I was testing out a new potion I had created and only finished ten minutes before I arrived therefore, I have enough of my counter potion in me to last until midnight."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I am going to go home and see what potions you laced our food with as each person's meal has been different leading me to believe that the others had potions in as well. Knowing this I intend to go home, see what you have put in my system and create the counter's for it."

"Good night Severus, see you tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow headmaster."

As Severus walked out of the door, he heard Obliviate being cursed at his back. As the over-powered spell impacted, he pretended to act dazed and looked around.

"Sorry headmaster, I believe I have forgotten why I am here and why everyone is asleep?"

"That's all right Severus, you had a long day brewing for the hospital wing. I believe you were just on your way home to escape the wrath of Peeves as he keeps on putting sleeping potions into people's goblets. Don't worry, I will stop him and they should all wake up in a few hours so I can fill them in."

"Thank you head master, I believe I will be seeing you tomorrow."

"Yes you will, get a good night's sleep. You'll need it with all the noise there is going to be surrounding young Harry's return!"

"Oh joy, that boy's probably has been waited on hand and foot all his life. I will not put up with any foolishness in my classroom! Least at all, Potter's!"

"I'm sure you won't but, be sure to try and treat young Harry fairly."

"I will try, however, I must get home as I already feel a headache coming."

"Good night, once again."

With twinkling eyes, Dumbledore walked away, not knowing about the memory spell complication that Severus had added to it earlier on in the night.

Dumbledore returned to the great hall to monitor the updates to the professor's personalities whilst, Snape returned home, brushing a kiss upon Harry's head letting him know that he was safe and about to brew the counter potions but, also to reassure himself about the up and coming year, hoping Harry would make it out alive... and not openly call Dumbledore a Dumbledildo or a senile, meddling, old coot.


	13. Chapter 13

"spoken"

" _spells"_

" **twins speaking together"**

" _the sorting hat"_

"telepathic communication" 

: " _Someone else speaking to the sorting hat rather than the sortee":_

"What did you give me for my sixth birthday?"

"A children's guide to joke potions, one of my biggest regrets, and a football."

"What was my first word?"

"Lily, after your mother."

"Now for the final test, what nickname did I give you when you used the term 'it's for the greater good'?"

"Dumbledore's phoenix… Are you convinced I am fine now?"

"Yes, I knew the moment you walked through the door Sev."

"Why you little…"

Severus near to rant was broke off by Harry launching himself at him. Tucking himself into the older man's chest, Harry let go of the breath he hadn't known he was holding on to and both of the males visibly relaxed, happy that both of them were safe and sound.

After several moments of peaceful silence, Harry announced what a great idea training was but all Snape could do was sit in silence. He had watched Dumbledore manipulate the whole of the staff and had to pretend to be ignorant. It was troubling him as even though he was not the most friendly man, he still had some of the staff that popped over for a friendly chat every now and again but he knew this would be the end of it as Dumbledore had always wanted him secluded and in doing so had manipulated him into spying for the Order. It was stupid to trust that man especially with children! Snape sat there in quiet musings about the imbecile who put Dumbledore in charge whilst Harry chose to use the silence to his advantage.

Whilst Snape had been musing about Hogwarts and the dangers it posed, Harry had somewhat escaped from the scared man's clutches and planned out his Hogwarts adventures and how to make the man known as Dumbledore pay for what he had done to his family both old and new. His eyes sparkled dangerously just in time for Snape to escape his stupor and groan as that look meant jokes were coming but luckily, it was Hogwarts who was in trouble not him!

At 10am they began their journey into muggle London, with trunk shrunk down into Harry's pocket and the glamour spell already on Snape, they headed out on a train to Kings Cross Station. They sat in quiet anticipation, looking out of their respective windows, as they knew of the dangers that lurked ahead and they were not looking forward to it. Trying to break the tension Harry annouced, "At least I will probably be in Slytherin with how I get things done!" But, Snape knew better and thought that now would have to be the proper warning and explanation of everything that has been going on. Not the half-hearted explanations like 'he threw a memory charm at me'.

"Harry, once again, I am going to have to tell you what other wish for you to not know, including myself in some cases. However, you need to know this for your general safety. Last night all the teachers, excluding myself were drugged and given false personalities. Most won't be much different although there will be more prejudice in the school which will confuse many teachers. The only way I escaped was by notifying the aroma of the potion however, there are only two other teachers that may be able to work off the effects: Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. I want you to treat people with extreme caution, especially the teachers and some people in your year whose parents are firm Dumbledore believers like the Weasleys. Also, earlier, I lied to you. It was not a simple memory charm thrown at me it was an obliviate. The only reason I survived was because of the side effect of my diagnostic/ blocking potion."

"Oh… So, I act unassuming again to be on the safe side?"

"Yes, to people you don't know or trust anyway. With the twins, Hermione and Draco act like yourself."

"Okay, how should I act if we are all in different houses, you said there was going to be prejudice, will that stop us from being friends?"

"It might, but I will find a way to stop it okay? If it does turn out like that I can always put you in detention as I am known to hate 'spoilt brats who soak up attention like sponges' like yourself, the twins are always pranking hence the detentions and Draco is my godson so no one will question him visiting my classroom. That way you can still meet."

"What about Hermione?"

"You think she isn't going to get detention with the amount of times she is going to shove her hand in the air with me? I am a 'greasy git' you know."

"Getting used to the non-existant abuse already?"

"Better let the meddling old fool think his memory spell worked."

"Hmmm..."

"Don't worry too much about it Harry, we have been training all summer!"

"True..."

"Make sure to find your little gang on the school train. I have to go straight to my office to tidy it for meeting all the new snakes."

"Just because I have selective over cleanliness disorder!"

"You are not going to survive in the Lions' den."

"You take that back!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm your teacher, I don't have to."

"Great..."

"Sarcasm Mr Potter, 10 points from Gryffindor."

With that an insulted Harry looked out of the window, no longer anxious about Hogwarts, just a bit peeved at the snarky potions professor. But Harry, having Snape twisted around his little finger, got a sort of apology from him in the form of, "If you are Gryffindor, I will personally glamour my hair pink for a week, three weeks into the term and will allow you to prank three people without getting in trouble with me." A faint smile laced Harry's face as he continued to look out the window. The silence resurfaced but this one was far more friendly and companionable.

They arrived on the platform, with fifteen minutes to spare. To the other wizards, all that was to be seen from the pair was a wrinkled, old face with an average length beard accompanied with a small, ivory skinned eleven year old. Black hair sticking out all over the place like an upturned broom and bright, emerald eyes. This boy looked slender, as if he hadn't seen a single cauldron cake in his life. Little did anyone know that this was Harry Potter and Severus Snape. And, for that moment, they were delighted. Hand in hand, they ventured deeper into the platform to find their friends.

After a couple of minutes, Harry had found none of his friends however, Snape had to leave and get to the school before Dumbledore noticed his disappearance. So, he quickly got Harry to claim a compartment in hopes the others would meet up. Once Snape had left, Harry felt truly alone, thrown into a somewhat known world but, without anyone near him, he picked up a book and waited for his friends to find him. However, he was not that lucky. Half way through the trip, he was joined by one Ronald Weasley and the experience was not at all pleasant.

Once he had entered the cabin, he announced his grand nobility of having the ability to be a Gryffindor, just like his marvellous family, who he absolutely hated and the fact that his family was poor, encouraging Harry to spend money on him when the sweet cart came along. Which Harry did without much of an internal grumble as the boy had spam sandwiches which was just plain cruel. After much Gryffindor and Dumbledore praising, alongside Slytherin and Malfoy bashing, Harry was greatful for Hermione's intrusion.

"Harry! I've been looking everywhere for you! Wait a second, I'll go tell the twins where you are, I have no idea how they knew who I was but they want to discuss a toilet seat with you. I also met a boy called Neville, who is looking for his toad by the way. Also, Dray is up front with the two dimwits, looking for you. I'll go get them, just stay here."

With that she ran off. Harry just looked blankly at where the girl had once stood whilst Ron just said, "Bloody Hell." Then, he just changed the conversation and tried to make himself seem knowledgeable to the boy-who-lived-to-be-bored-out-of-his-brain by trying to do a spell. Due to having to act surprised about magic, he had to hold back his scoff when Ron took out a rat and pointed his wand at it. About to say a spell, Hermione re-entered surrounded by Harry's friends and Neville, the twins hiding in the background, knowing what was about to happen.

Hermione rushed in and sat down, waiting to see the spell be performed. Feeling proud that he had an audience, Ron continued the spell " _butter, daisy, sunshine, butter, mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow"_ at the failure, Hermione, being Hermione, decided to have a verbal battle with ickle Ronniekins.

"Was that a real spell?"

"Yes."

"Well it wasn't a very good one."

"Like you could do better!"

"I could. Harry pass me your reading glasses, the ones with the damaged frames you were going to send to get fixed."

Harry did as she said, curious at what his friend was going to do. She held up the glasses, pointed her wand at them and murmered, " _Occulus repairo"_ , immediately, the frames unbent and the glasses were passes back to Hermione, each wizard holding a new respect for her, except for the jealous ginger prat who sitting opposite her as she, the muggle-born, had just shown up a pure blood in their own game. Then the twins chose to make their appearance.

After appearing, Ron very loudly groaned as they had witness his failed magic and they had been the ones who had given him the spell.

"Look little Ronnikins is using our spell Forge!"

"Why yes he is Gred! What a momentous day!"

"Hey Fred, hey George."

" **Hey Harry!"**

"YOU KNOW THEM?"

"Yeah Ron, we met in the joke shop in Diagon Alley. It was amazing in there and my adopted dad didn't even care that much when I used the jokes you recommended around the house! He told me to bring more home next year as he was really interested in them!"

" **Great! We will get more to you and if you want, we can come around again to show you the best places you can put them! We could prank Josh if you want, seeing as he knows about the whole magic thing."**

"You let a muggle see you guys do magic."

"No just Harry's best friend who is Hermione's cousin..."

"He's a cool guy..."

" **Unlike you Ronniekins."**

With this the whole carriage was rocking with laughter as Ron's face was now the same colour as his hair. Ignoring him, everyone entered the carriage, pushing Ron right into the window. Harry and the others then began to talk as if they hadn't seen each other for six months! After finally discussing toilet seats, muggle electronics, pranks, lessons and Neville's, now found, toad it was time for them to get change but not before Ron finally realised that Draco Malfoy was in the same compartment as him. Everybody bit back comments on how slow Ron was as their argument spiked.

"What are you doing in our compartment Malfoy?"

"Talking with my friends Ronniekins."

"Shut up you supremeist!"

"What a big word for the dimwitted blood traitor."

"Are you insulting my family?"

"No just you you idiot! I wouldn't insult my friends."

"Stop calling my brothers your friends!"

"No. You don't decide my life you self-righteous twat!"

"At least I don't go around calling people like Hermione fucking Mudblood."

"My family and I do not do that you little shit! If I did, I wouldn't be friends with Hermione would I!"

Seeing that this was going no where and that Hermione was trembling and looking a very pasty white, the wrath of Harry was upon them as he knew what that horrid term meant and no way, NO WAY was Hermione going to be subjected to that treatment when he was around.

"YOU PRENTENTOUS TWATS, SIT YOUR ARSES DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP. YOU JUST DRAGGED HERMIONE INTO THIS AND NOW SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN. BECAUSE YOU TWO CAN'T CONTROL YOUR TEMPERS AND HAVE BROUGHT DERIGATORY TERMS INTO THIS TO DESCRIBE ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS. YOU WILL APOLOGISE TO HER NOW OR I WILL PRANK YOU UNTIL YOUR ASSES HURT! GOT IT!"

"Yes, Sorry Herms..."

"Okay, um sorry um Hermione?"

"Was that a question Ronnie-kins? If so you better prepare yourself before I get started as you may just wreck yourself."

"He's dead…"

"Yep, so dead **"**

But luckily, for little Ronniekins, the train had just arrived at Hogwarts and it was time to board the boats. Unluckily for Harry, Hagrid decided to personally announce his arrival.

"FIRST YEARS OVER 'ERE. OH HEY THER 'ARRY! WELL COME ALONG 'EN"

Harry grimaced and followed the bumbling man as instructed to. After following Hagrid through a woodland path, they arrived at the lake and began to board boats in fours. Unluckily for Harry, Draco got pushed towards the other side and got into a boat with some of his childhood friends. While he ended up with Ron. The boy, who was now shivering in fear, sat as far away from Harry as he possible could putting Hermione next to Harry and Neville behind him. This was the preferable seating arrangement for Harry but, he was regretting not being able to push Ron overboard… Though he knew he shouldn't get detention before even arriving!

After a five minute journey of travelling along the starlit lake, the castle came into sight and with it a sense of melancholy. However, with the great view and the awe that Harry felt from the mass magical presence, he put it out of his mind for now and continued to gawp as more of the castle entered his view line.

A very dry mouth later, they docked and headed up to the entrance of the Grand Hall. There after McGonagall left them to check if the hall was ready for them was when Harry's wrath was nearly unleashed again. Harry was near the front with Hermione and Neville talking to him and keeping an eye on Trevor, as that frog liked to wonder and he didn't think McGonagall would appreciate another out burst of "Trevor!". Then he heard bickering going on from the back between one Draconius Malfoy and one Ronald Weasley, yes kind readers, FULL-NAMED! It went somewhere along the lines of…

"You ignorant blood-traitor, giving up more traditions in favour of fickle fame! Yeah, that's really going to go down the hole when they see you are full of shit. We do in deed have different holidays and you are welcome to celebrate with us but, we don't force you to practise our traditions, just as it isn't compulsary for us to celebrate yours."

"You know what Malfoy stop being a supremist twat! At least I am trying to make friends not flipping allies."

"I have friends you arsehole! Unlike you I don't trick people into being friends with me. Oh, I'm a ginger knob and I know so much about the world that I am going to indoctrinate you with my stupidity."

"At least I'm not an albino prick who walks around with his nose shoved so far in the air it is up Merlin's butthole."

"Wow real original Weasley who did you get that off of? Your mother?"

"Listen here you fucking twat, at least I do not buy my way in to positions like your stinking family because unlike you we have some honour and we are not evil, dark Slytherins like the trash that comes from the family of Malfoy."

"You want repeat that Ronniekins."

"You bet your greasy hair I do!"

"MR MALFOY, MR WEASLEY JUST WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

With that, silence reigned whilst Harry was stifling a laugh at the two beetroot faces at the back of the group. Deciding that laughing was not the best course of action from the strong poke in the ribs, courtesy of Hermione, and the chalk white face of Neville, he turned around and looked forwards at the doors to calm himself down. After berating the two boys to the amusement of the Great Hall, she announced that they were ready for them to enter and the feast to begin.

After a very random speech that ended in something like, bubble, nitwick and squeak, not that Harry was listening, as he had began a telepathic conversation with Snape.

"I'm scarred."

"Why?"

"What if they are all expecting something from me? What if I end up somewhere I hate, with people I don't like?"

"It will be fine, remember what I said on the train."

"I know but, it doesn't get rid of my anxieties."

"Everything will be fine. How was the train journey?"

"Nice change of the conversation… It was okay. Awful for the first part, I couldn't get rid of Ron Weasley but then the others found us and joined our compartment however, Ron and Draco got into an argument and drew Hermione into it and offhandedly called Hermione a mudblood. Draco realised and apologised properly but, when Ron did it, he did it as if it was a question so the great wrath of Harry is going to be upon him."

"Good, you know what sort of trouble that word causes as it was the reason that your mother and I didn't speak for three years."

"I know and I won't let that happen to Herms."

"I know you won't. Now listen brat, the sorting has begun!"

"Okay but, remember what you said on the train!"

"I know and good luck but, remember, I supposedly hate your guts so, I hope you trip?"

"Sure. See you later Dad."

Telepathic conversation over, he was just in time to digest that Susan Bones was in Hufflepuff. After several sorts it got to Hermione.

" _A good brain, haven't seen one as witty as this today, you'd be the perfect Ravenclaw but, what's this a courageous side? Hmmm… decisions, decisions however, as your wit and intelligance is most prominent, you better be RAV… GRIFFINDOR"_

Thoroughly confused, Hermione went and sat down at the Gryffindor table, eager to talk with either Professor Snape or her friends. She knew her questions wouldn't be wanted anywhere else and that they could get her into trouble, just like she knew that the sorting hat spoke in your hat and was supposedly never wrong but, she couldn't work up the courage, ironically, to point that out, verbally, in front of the Great Hall.

The next sort that grabbed Harry's attention was Neville's. Again, the boy was not overly courageous on the outside but, Harry knew he was on the inside. Although, Harry had expected him to be in Hufflepuff as he was extremely loyal as even when telling the others how his uncle forced his accidental magic, he had admitted that although it was harsh and very abusive, his Uncle Algie was still family and his Grandmother needed all the family together now, even though she was a crazy old bat also! He was so fiercely loyal to his family that he would gladly give up his own happiness to make them happy and proud. Therefore, all of his friends believed him to be Hufflepuff even though what he said was very Gryffindor of him and not in an insulting way.

The next one nearly made Harry laugh. When Draco STRODE up there, he sat down, expecting a quick sorting but as it progressed, you could see the look of horror covering his face as his sorting took a whole ten seconds.

" _Oh a Slytherin through and through but what would you do if I sorted you into Hufflepuff or even better Gryffindor?"_

" _I would strip you and make a nappy for a motherfucking hypogriff but, in a way that would get someone else blamed for it you senile hat."_

" _Oh very Gryffindor response however, you are a Slytherin and I can tell as you are envisioning an alibi...SLYTHERIN"_

A breath of relief was given out before the aristocratic mask was placed over Draco's face as he walked over to the Slytherin table. Harry nearly burst out laughing, having no one left to poke him in the ribs to calm him down a bit, out of chance he glanced over to Snape who had a very disapproving glare on his face as even though he was technically his son, no one takes the mickey out of his snakes, let alone Draco!

Then it came to Harry's turn. To the symphony of gasps, he walked up to the creaky old stool and put the sorting hat on his head.

" _A very well-rounded individual Mr Potter although I can see that you would do great things if you went into Slytherin, just hopefully not following in the foot steps of Mr Riddle."_

" _Voldemort was in Slyhterin?"_

" _That's neither here nor there. So I am going to go with either Slytherin or Gryffindor, what is your preference?"_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

" _Why don't you want to go to Slytherin?"_

" _I do, that is my favourite house but, I would like to be with Hermione to protect her from the arseholes in Gryffindor. Why wasn't she in Ravenclaw?"_

" _I did put her in Ravenclaw however, what house is your preference and do not joke."_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

" _I'm not saying that though..."_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

" _Why don't you like Slytherin?"_

" _I DO!"_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

 _: "Anywhere but Slytherin." :_

" _Never have I had a person with such a split personality… I will put you in Gryffindor like your parents as you haven't said anything against it… GRYFFINDOR"_

Thoroughly confused, Harry raised an eye brow at the hat but walked to Gryffindor's table and sat down next to Hermione to an explosion of claps, courtesy of Forge and Gred. Both of them sat down looking dazed but continued to watch the sorting as it was courtesy. After an enormous groan at Ron being sorted into Gryffindor, they tucked into their food, vowing to each other to discuss their placement with each other. Harry quickly set up a telepathic link, shocking those who hadn't known he could do that with his animagus, for communication at eleven between the twins, Draco, Neville, Hermione and himself.

As the meal continued, Dumbledore's eyes increased in their sparkling as the young Potter, his personnal orphaned scapegoat was ready to be trained for slaughter.


	14. Chapter 14

As it was coming close to eleven, the group settled into their dorms and drew the curtains each thoroughly confused at the nights proceedings. When eleven struck, Harry began the conversation.

"Hey guys, it's Harry here, the communication link has been set up."

"Hey Harry it's Fred/George/Draco/Neville/Hermione."

"Okay, I'm guessing you are all a bit confused at how and why I set this up but, I had a third person in my communication with the sorting hat that convinced it that I had a split personality so, it was unable to sort me properly and went with Gryffindor as that was what my parents were in."

"Hermione here, it was the same for me. The hat was going to place me in Ravenclaw then at the last moment it called out Gryffindor. Does this sound familiar to anyone?"

"Harry here, I asked why you weren't in Ravenclaw and it said you were."

"Draco here and that's weird. Anyways, the hat was being really opiniated. I thought it was supposed to be neutral but it kept on making comments about me being in Gryffindor."

"Forge declares that to be strange."

"Gred adds that it wasn't like that for us."

"Forge would like to ask, what was it like for you Neville?"

"Gred is also quite curious."

"Um for me it just said 'I would be good in Hufflepuff and would be encouraged with my herbology however, I have many Gryffindor tendacies like my parents and could achieve greatness in there."

"Forge would like to announce that that was similar to ours."

"Gred would like to provide extra information with the hat complementing us on our pranks."

"Harry would like to say, really guys?"

"Gred we are being dishonoured."

"Forge we may need to prank the newest Gryffindor's."

"You want a war guys?"

"Harry, it's Hermione here, and don't you think we are going a little off task? Anyway I want to know what the sorting hat said to you as it took several minutes."

"Okay Herm's. It started by saying that I was very well rounded, then it went onto saying it would put me into one of the main stream houses: Gryffindor or Slytherin. Then, it went on to ask me what my preference is and when I countered with 'my favourite house is Slytherin although Hermione needs help with the arseholes in Gryffindor', this voice kept on speaking up repeating 'anywhere but Slytherin'. I tried to tell the hat that it wasn't me but, it blatantly told me that I had split-personality disorder after which it placed me in Gryffindor much to our esteemed headmaster's delight. I blame him for this even though we don't have any evidence."

"I agree with you Harry, our facts point this to him however, we can not blame him without repercussions."

"I know Herms, so what do we do now? I feel like he is going to cause some dangerous shit and pull us all into it for the sake of the greater good."

"That's going a little too far isn't it Forge?"

"Normally, I would I agree Gred however, when it comes to Dumbledore everything is for the greater good."

"Too right Forge, so Harry what is the course of action?"

"I'm always right Gred and Harry when do we begin?"

"Guys, we are going to ace our classes and prank the fuck out of Dumbledore. Who is with me?"

"ME!" answered everyone.

"Harry, we were going to do that anyway however, do you want me to let my dad attack Dumbledore through the board of Governer's, I asked him to hold back for a while however, there is no possible way that he can deal with a war on two fronts!"

"HELL YES, LET'S TAKE HIM DOWN!"

"Harry a little descression please, you could never survive in Slyhterin if you acted like this!"

"You take that back right now Malfoy!"

"Make me Potter!"

"Oh it's on!"

"Guys, calm down! Let's go to sleep, we will plan this tomorrow but we have to act like model students to dissuade accusation from ourselves for when we prank Dumbledore."

"Okay Herm's, Night everyone!"

"Night!"

"OH, before I break the connection, the teachers are going to be acting differently this year, Dumbledore has drugged them and has given them different personalities, Snape got away but he is going to act much harsher and has to pretend to hate me and give me lots of detentions! Apparently, the only teacher's with a chance of breaking through the effects of the potions are McGonagall due to her weird healing abilities through her animagus and Flitwich due to his goblin ancestery so watch out."

"Great Forge, Snape's going to be harsher."

"I know Gred, just when we get to know the man!"

"Anyway goodnight everyone."

"Night guys and thanks for the bombshell Harry..." answered Draco

"Night everyone and be careful." replied Hermione

"Good night and we will Hermione." replied Neville

"Good night ma amies..."

"We cannot wait until morning to see your cute first-year faces again!" replied the twins.

The next day, Harry woke up around 6am and chose to wonder around the castle, forgetting that he had no idea where he was going! After a twenty minute wander, her realised he was lost and in a corridor of dusty classrooms. After searching through several of them and finding nothing of interest, he decided to walk back to his dorm but not before walking into his very annoyed father…

"And what do you think you are doing wandering around the castle without a map at this time of the morning?"

"Exploring my surroundings for escape routes of course."

"Of course you are. You're going through another one of your phases where you wake up at 6am aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Yep?"

"I said 'yes', do you need your hearing checked?"

"You cheeky little… Anyway you need to head back to your dormitory. Hermione is freaking out because you were missing this morning, did you not think to leave her a note? You know how much she relies on you and thinks of you as a brother figure."

"I forgot... I'm not used to living with people who aren't used to my disappearing acts."

"I know, I will take you back to the dorm but I must act like a moody so and so, so that the portraits do not report back to the headmaster that I might actually like you."

"I understand. I guess I am getting detention for this then?"

"Big time Mr Potter."

Noticing they were back amongst the portraits, Harry played along even though he was thoroughly disappointed. "Yes sir, I guess we will be getting maps later. Are we allowed to go everywhere during our freetime?"

"No."

"Um… why did the hat get confused last night."

"What do you mean Mr Potter?"

"Me and Hermione were talking about our sorting's and she said that the hat was going to place her in Ravenclaw but, at the last minute it changed it's mind and put her in Gryffindor. Then with me there was like a third voice telling the hat I didn't want to go to Slytherin, even though I wouldn't of minded."

"Hmph.. flattery does not become one Mr Potter especially, when one is in trouble. Detention tonight with me, 7pm in the dungeons. Understand?"

"But I've done nothing wrong!"

"Of course you haven't! Wondering at all others and trying to bribe a teacher? Nothing wrong indeed. I suppose a Mr Mooney taught you that one."

"Who is Mr Mooney?"

"As if you don't know. Anyway, here we are Mr Potter. See you at 7."

Harry walked back into his common room muttering about stubborn teachers and arsehole headmasters as he was thoroughly displeased that the only time he got with his adopted father, was when he had to act like an ass-hat or when Harry was in detention. However, these musings were cut off when Harry was attacked by a rather fluffy bundle of hair. After calming a hysteric Hermione down telling her that nothing happened, the small fluffy girl pushed him onto a chair and began to berate him much to the amusement of the older years, especially Fred and George who were on the floor laughing at Harry's predicament.

"Harry James Potter, what on earth did you think you were doing? Leaving at all hours, I nearly had a heart attack. You promised that you wouldn't leave me alone without a guide in the wizarding world, you also promised Josh! You are in sooo much trouble! All you had to do was leave a note but noooooo, Harry Potter doesn't have to leave a note, that would be too easy! Instead he goes and gets detention on the first blooming day before breakfast has even begun!"

"Hermione, I know and I am sorry but I woke up at 6am and honestly thought I could remember my way back but, those blooming staircases are confusing as hell. But we are both okay and you know I wouldn't leave you on your own on purpose right!"

"I know Harry but, I am still scarred, this is the first time I have been away from my family. I mean even when I am staying in Yorkshire, I can talk to them everyday but, I can't now."

"I know and I am sorry Hermione but, everything is going to be okay."

"Oh it better be or you are going to pay don't forget that you were the one who taught me how to prank people."

"Shit!"

"Oh is that swearing I hear, I could ask the twins for help, they said they would help me prank people who were mean to me on the train."

"Ummm… swearing that wasn't me. Calm down Herms or we are going to be late to breakfast and it wouldn't be good if you were late on the first day you know."

"We're running late? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Cuz you needed to get that out of your system. Now come on, you can't get detention as well as me."

As they left, nearly the whole common room collapsed in fits of laughter or dead panned at how bipolar the youngest female Gryffindor could act and how their 'saviour' expected it but, was also quite scarred of the little girl and how they just left talking amicably to each other as if nothing has happened. Needless to say, they had successfully amused and confused a whole house on their first day and if that isn't an achievement, I don't know what is!

At breakfast, they received their timetables in which Harry was disheartened with when he found out that not only did he not have potions today, he didn't have any direct contact with the Slytherins or Draco.

First lesson was herbology with the Hufflepuffs. They were overly a nice bunch and if they had been given more of a chance to speak to each other, Harry was sure they would of became good friends however, dear Ronald kept on distracting him from the other houses as if it was his right to become Harry's friends or if the Hufflepuffs were not worthy of Harry's attention. Over the course of the lesson, Harry, Hermione and Neville shared a few sentences with the Hufflepuffs and made friends with a girl called Susan Bones whilst, Ron was being told off by Professor Sprout for Merlin knows what. After the lesson, they agreed to meet in the library to do their homework together as they were all eager students.

The next lesson was history of magic, Harry tried to pay attention for the whole lesson but, it was notoriously boring and not even to do with anything even remotely modern. Professor Binns, a ghost of a teacher, who probably didn't even know he was dead, was teaching them about the goblin wars, which were important, but not as important as say the first wizarding war, magical breed relationships and conflicts… The only thing which comforted him about his inability to keep focused was that the new Ravenclaws couldn't either. The only person who was able to pay attention diligently all the way through was Hermione, most other people just set up Dictaquills which they were given by older students after their tables had seen the timetables.

At lunch, nothing especially exciting happened, the tables filled up with food, all the first years talked amongst themselves and disappointingly the twins hadn't done anything. The only thing which kept him amused was overhearing talk about toilet seats and managing to make Draco loose his cool by pulling faces at him much to the amusement of his table and annoyance of Snape. Nearing the end of lunch, Harry's scar started to pain him as he felt eyes watching every move he made from the direction of the new defence against the dead arts teacher: Professor Quirrel. Seeing his pain, Ron spoke up, "The dungeon bat is staring at you, is he causing you to have a headache?" Harry nearly facepalmmed at the stupidity of his ginger housemate and replied,

"Why would he possible cause me to be in pain? I don't even know him!"

"'Cuz he's evil, he worked for you-know-who in the war and he hated your dad."

"Didn't Dumbledore say he was a spy or something and stand up for him?"

"Yeah, but remember he has already given you a detention for getting lost."

"So?"

"Why don't you believe he is evil?"

"Because every one is innocent until proven guilty and even though I sometimes hate it, I live by that."

"That's stupid!"

"When I want you to judge my beliefs and call me stupid, I'll call for you but for now why don't you sit down and shut up? We are trying to have a nice pleasant meal and you are disrupting it."

By now Ronald was doing an impression of a living tomato, while the twins were howling in laughter at their brother being shut down by the other eleven year old. After Harry finished eating, Hermione, Neville and himself walked out off the hall, soon followed by both their old and new friends to have a quick chat before they headed off for their afternoon classes.

Their afternoon class was charms however, after sitting down they found out that it was just theory. After listening and taking notes, he was deeply engrossed in the subject and was devastated when the lesson ended much to the amusement of Hermione as this was the same reaction she had to every single one of her lessons and it was fun to see the same look on someone elses face for once, especially one who grew up knowing of the wizarding world!

After that, they all retreated back to the common rooms to drop their stuff of before tea. Tea had gone relatively the same as lunch except there was no unnecessary pain. Afterwards, they all dashed to the library after finding out where it was and grabbing their books and they grabbed a large table to share between Harry, Hermione, Neville, Susan, Draco and some other first years who they had each befriended much to the amusement of Madam Prince who was rather annoyed at the lack of inter-house unity. After sitting down and introductions being made, the group became firm friends. In the end around that table were Harry, Hermione, Neville, Susan, Draco, Hannah Abott, Daphne Greengrass, Blaze Zambini and the Patil twins. A rather odd bunch to become friends thought the librarian but nether-the-less, she was a tad less snarky towards them especially when they became very noisy. But she had to step in when the laughter began after Harry yelled, "Shit, I'm late for detention with Snape! He's gonna skin me and use my skin to make bunny slippers!"


	15. Chapter 15

Short chapter this time… well compared to my last couple anyway! Thank you for the continued support and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

 _Italics_ for spells

 **Bold** for twin talk

"Running late already Potter?"

"Yes sir."

"Well clearly fame isn't everything… How mediocre it must be to learn in an environment where you are equal to others."

"Bull shit." Now safely in Snape's warded classroom, they could speak freely.

"Why indeed however, you shouldn't swear, five points from Gryffindor." and to the despair of everyone who passed the Great Hall, Gryffindor were already loosing the points they had scarcely earnt in class.

"I don't know why you are having so much fun with this, you said if I ended up in Gryffindor you would-"

"I know the consequences. I am never betting anything to do with your life again, you're too unpredictable."

"Actually..."

"Actually what?"

"I think Dumbledore manipulated the hat."

"He wouldn't be able to do that, the hat was made by the founders."

"Nobody is infallible. However, it was more like providing a third voice/view when the hat regards our personalities as the hat said it placed Hermione in Ravenclaw and when it wasn't sure whether to place me in Gryffindor or Slytherin, a third voice kept on saying, "Anywhere but Slytherin." distracting the hat. He found a way to work around the hat to tweak people's lives. Who knows how long he has been doing it for… It was also taking the mick out of Draco, that's why his took so long!"

"How many people know of this?"

"The usual group call plus Neville."

"Keep it amongst yourself, I'm going to ask my first years how their conversations with the hat were."

"Some of them will be in the library, we created an inter-house study group."

"You've been here one day and your already creating change like that… Fame must be something then..."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

"I must agree, it is very amusing. Anyway, you're in detention so to make it seem real you are going to make some potions for the hospital and then wash the cauldrons out manually."

"Okay then, what are we making?"

"Basic blood replenisher."

"Hopefully, nobody will come along as that is definitely not a first year potion!"

"Well, your guardian did put in a note saying you were a good potions student and have helped to make medical potions before, I am just observing his opinion."

"Oh course but aren't you supposed to be, and I quote, a 'snarky git'?"

"Well it is the first day..."

"I see your point."

"Well hop to it then, you 'firsties' have a curfew."

Harry mumbled something about 'when I use abbreviations and slang I get told of but, NOOO when he uses it it's fine!' but, got to work nether-the-less with Snape hovering over his shoulder. To anyone passing by this may seem intimidating to them but Harry knew that he was just checking what was going in so he could reverse and protect Harry if need be. After they had brewed the potions, they shared some words before Snape had to annoy Harry to create the perfect image for his 'personality'.

Harry stomped off to the common room, looking close to throwing a tantrum, even though his friends knew it was fake, they were amazed at how well he pulled it off. He just walked over to them muttering something about a 'snarky git being too big for his own platform heels' causing some of the older years to giggle, Harry sat in his seat as his friends crowded him to hear what happened so he put on his act, happy that Snape had put in 'guardian comments' so he didn't have to act totally oblivious but had to act angry for his audience. He sent a quick message to those who were his friends, 'this is an act, play along'.

"The git first gave me detention for something I didn't know about thenm he made me make medical potions with him hovering over my shoulders because he didn't believe my adoptive dad's comments about a mediwitch teaching me to make them. Then, to top it off, when I did it perfectly he called me a 'vain brat' and basically went on to call me an attention whore!"

Everyone was gobsmacked, Harry Potter previously innocent first year who was quite oblivious to the better part of the wizarding world, could brew potions better then most in the house and apparently, had a sailor's mouth! Most of them were too shocked but the twins just said, "We did warn you Harry!", after that they just got glared at, though Harry just laughed and said, "I guess you did, but seriously aren't Slyhterin's supposed to be sneaky and sly, he just seemed like a pumped up drama queen!" Situation diffused then worsened, the students of Gryffindor were laughing their heads of and congratulating Harry so much McGonagall had to come in and calm everyone down. At the centre of the commotion was Harry Potter, McGonagall just went into despair, apparently he was going to be a lot like his father in behaviour but, it was obvious from his record that he had his mother's brain: a deadly combination. She walked out of her house looking more downcast then she had coming in.

That night, Gryffindor went to bed early, well most of them anyway… Harry snuck to the twins' room and prodded them awake, ready to plan out the pranks that would soon be giving the teacher's nightmares. It was all going smoothly without getting sidetracked until George remembered something weird about Dumbledore's welcoming speech.

"So who wants to go and find out why anyone who enters the third floor corridor will 'die a most painful death'?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Weren't you listening to the welcoming speech?"

"No."

"Well after forbidding the forbidden forest from us..."

"...He went on to say that about the third floor corridor."

"I can't believe I missed all of that!"

" **Neither can we!** "

"Let's go see, it can't be that bad can it?"

" **Sure!** **Shall we call the others?** "

"No, we'll tell them what we find in the morning. I'll send Hermione a message, she'll find it when she wakes up!"

Underneath the shroud of the invisibility cloak, the Marauder's map in Fred's hand, they made their way to the third floor corridor, still planning pranks on their way. Once the moving staircases finally took them to the third floor, they looked around and went ahead.

"Guys, this is strange, the door is open… Why didn't they lock it if they didn't want anyone to come in here?"

" **That's because of our amazing good luck.** "

"Of course it is..."

He quickly whipped the cloak off of them and took his wand out, even though he knew wandless magic, he was sure he could work his wand properly, due to the day's results, and they progressed forwards. After a few tentative steps, they came face to face with a wooden door. Strangely, it was locked, unlike the other doors on that level… After asking if they should proceed and getting an affirmative nod, he unlocked the door using _Alohamora._ And they walked in. They looked around but everything was pitch black so they cast _lumos_. They looked around the room for something of purpose. The twins started at the edges whilst Harry just went to the middle of the room so everyone could see properly. As he was walking, he nearly tripped over a large metal clasp. He looked down to see what he had tripped over and was surprised to see a trapped door. He was about to mention it to the twins when he felt the air around him become warmer. He looked up and was met with three angry heads popping out from a collar with 'Fluffy' written on it. He came out of his shock when slobber landed on his shoulder from the angry Cerberus. He quickly yelled, "Guys, it is time to go!" Grabbed the twins and ran, wandlessly re-locking the door without even thinking about it. On the way out, the twins saw the Cerberus and were grateful for Harry's quick thinking.

They ran all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, not thinking to put the invisibility cloak on, letting several pissed off portraits to get revenge. Once they arrived they were met with a very angry tabby cat, who they somehow hadn't noticed. She watched on as they started ranting about what they had seen but only transformed when Harry started yelling,"THERE WAS A FLIPPING CERBERUS! A FUCKING CERBERUS CALLED FLUFFY! WHO CALLS A CERBERUS FLUFFY? COME ON, WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? THIS IS A SCHOOL, WHAT THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP TONIGHT KNOWING THERE IS A CERBERUS, CALLED FLUFFY AND THE ONLY PROTECTION IS A GOD DAMN WOODEN DOOR?" To which he was answered, "By me giving you three detention Mr Potter. For being out after curfew, going to the third floor corridor and horrible use of the English language. I think a fortnight with Professor Snape and Mr Filch should suffice."


	16. Chapter 16

Apparently, it was possible for the three boys to turn paler than nearly headless Nick. As coming to face with an angry McGonagall, after announcing to her what they had done, was not a scenario anyone wanted to be in. After three very audible gulps, McGonagall was left waiting for an explanation.

"Care to explain why two third year Gryffindors were taking a first year to a forbidden corridor in the middle of the night and why the said first year apparently wanted to and is up three hours outside of his curfew?"

"Um..."

"I take that as a no."

"..."

"Well as I said before, detention with Filch and Professor Snape for a fortnight, anymore deviancies within a month and I will be owling home. Do I make myself clear?"

"..."

"Sorry I didn't hear your replies."

"… Yes mam."

"Good… And a word of advice Mr Potter, do not follow in the footsteps of these two if you want to be out of detention this year."

"I'm very sorry mam, I just couldn't get to sleep knowing there was something that could kill me on the third floor, the twins tried to tell me that Professor Dumbledore would never let anything in the school hurt us but, I just couldn't get to sleep. They were just taking me to give me peace of mind as they knew the actual corridor would be empty in case the staircases took anyone there without them realising it but, you saw how that turned out. I'm very sorry mam."

"It's all right Mr Potter, just try not to do it again."

"I won't mam, could we please go to bed now, I'm bery tired..."

"Yes in you three go, just try not to wake the others up."

McGonagall just lost her temper at those bright green eyes looking up at her, telling her something, along the lines of, what she wanted to hear. She knew she had been played but, she just couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes, no matter how much a cat person she was. Letting the three of them go was just the easiest option as while she, the head of Gryffindor, was brave, she was not heartless. However, the punishment still had to stand otherwise she would be accused of favouritism, though she had decided to remove Filch from the equation.

The moment the three boys got in the common room, the twins bowed to Harry and muttered, "Well played." before walking off to bed, clearly in a daze. Harry, just walked off, rather pleased with himself, and his ability as an actor, as he had gotten them out of the cat lady's rage and into a much safer zone. He went off to bed, happy at how the evening had turned out but, very pessimistic about his ability to wake up in the morning.

And he was right to be pessimistic, the next morning he was woken by the Neville shouting, "Dumbledore is wearing a pink ball gown whilst serenading Snape." with the twins jumping on his bed. Being the moody pre-teen he was, he groped for his wand and cast jinxes at the people trying to wake him up. The twins were now sporting cream pies on their faces, which were flying at them continuously, while Neville's mouth had been glued shut. Harry then proceeded settled down, into deeper sleep, regardless of what was going on around him, until he noticed that he had sent three spells to different people and sat up wondering where he was. Three three boys were glaring at him whilst the rest of his dorm had descended into laughter. What topped it all off was Harry saying, "Oh, I'm a Hogwart!" clearly half asleep. He then proceeded to get ready for the day in this state, forgetting what spells he had done. While this was going on, the twins and Neville were trying to get people to remove the spells which Harry had placed on them.

Coming out of the dorm, looking like a thrift shop had exploded around him, Harry tried to leave for breakfast through the portrait hole, this was before he was pulled backwards into a chair for him to remove the spells he put on them. He looked questionably at them until he realised that they had been the ones to wake him up. He then took them off almost effortlessly and left before he could be bombarded with thousands of questions. He luckily got to the hall and was eating before they began. He sent a telepathic message to Snape saying, "Get ready for a shit storm as three somebodies had to wake me up." This allowed Snape to adopt his familiar grimace as Harry was surrounded by a cohort of Gryffindors.

" **So how do you know joke spells that we don't Harry?"**

"I met you in a joke store."

" **So?"**

"I've been practising those spells since I knew about magic as the under-age wizardry department can only catch you if you are the only wizard in your household. As you know, we had a mediwitch visit, so she taught me some spells, both she and my adoptive dad played pranks so they taught me everything they knew."

" **How'd you do it in your sleep?"**

"I don't like being woke up, perfect deterrent. I get a lot of lay ins when she visits."

" **Expand."**

"Nope. Not telling you all my secrets."

The twins lent in and whispered, " **Wandless?** ", "Best way to not get caught apparently." Once again Harry had shocked the twins. They started mock bowing to Harry in front of the entire school. As Harry turned red, Snape heard Minerva whisper, "Please don't let it be true." As she had taken that as a sign that Harry had pranked someone and she hoped to Merlin, she would find out soon and quickly. Severus snorted both in amusement and in his act as Harry was living to be the 'splitting image of his father'.

At the end of lunch Minerva turned to Snape and said,

"I need to have a meeting with you about some detentions also a very strange headache I've been getting."

"Shouldn't you talk to Poppy about that?"

"Poppy is still busy sorting out the hospital, you know how conscious she gets around the start of the new school year."

"True, shall I meet you in your office when the first years have their flying lesson."

"Yes please Severus, I would like to keep an eye on them as it is the Slytherin-Gryffindor lesson."

"As would I, especially due to the volatile relationships between our houses. I almost cursed Albus when he put them together for potions."

"I know, I was waiting for it."

"Sorry to disappoint. Who are the students we will be discussing?"

"The Weasley twins and Harry Potter."

"Following in the footsteps of his father I see, I've already had a detention with him last night."

"Severus! It was the first day of school, what could he possibly have been doing?"

"He was wondering around the school at the crack of dawn, probably looking for the secret passages to sneak out."

"For Merlin's sake Severus, he is just a boy."

"Let me guess, puppy dog eyes? I thought you were a cat person Minerva."

Minerva gaped and turned away, red in the face. He had won this round. He walked out of the hall, cloak billowing behind him. On the way past, with glare on his face, he asked Harry, "Itis the second day, although you may enjoy my presence, I prefer my evenings to be free. Please refrain from this sort of business if you plan on spending seven years here." He then got the telepathic answer of, "Got caught, given detention with twins for a fortnight and used puppy dog eyes to get out of more trouble. The norm." Snape turned and continued to glower as he walked back down to his dungeons, preparing for the day ahead.

While this was happening, the still red faced Minerva McGonagall happened to walk past some of her Gryffindor's who were telling the Hufflepuff's behind them what had happened this morning. She was relieved at the answer to the twins bowing to Harry but, she also felt like dead panning at why it had all happened. According to the Gryffindor student,

"The twins were bowing to Harry because he pulled a prank on them whilst asleep. It was amazing! Nobody could wake Harry up this morning, Hermione, who knows Harry because he is best friends with her cousin, warned them against waking him up without shields. They were confused and in the end, the twins and Neville were sent into the dorm to wake him up. The rest of the dorm were already in there trying to decide how to do it. Anyway… the twins were jumping on his bed while Neville was shouting something about Dumbledore wearing a ball gown or singing to Snape. After about three minutes, he stirred, cast cream pies to pelt the twins continuously and glued Neville's mouth shut. He then fell back asleep. After about thirty seconds he apparently sat up suddenly, looked around and went, "Oh, I'm a Hogwart." and got ready for the day without realising what he had done. We tried to take the spells off of them but they were too powerful for us, Harry just flicked his wand muttering something and left after they surrounded him. Then went to breakfast, quite oblivious to the chaos he had caused, a little while later Hermione walked out after him saying, "I did warn you." We then all followed and questioned him of course like any Gryffindor would do."

McGonagall walked away stunned. Harry Potter had been here three days. He had already got on the bad side of Snape, jinxed three students and had collected fifteen days of detention with Snape. It was going to be a long year...


	17. Chapter 17

When the flying lesson had begun, McGonagall could be found slouched in her chair, with a glass of sherry in her hand. All she could think to make her more optimistic was the fact that there were only three of them, there had four Marauders. However, this fact soon turned sour when she acknowledged who Harry was to the Marauders… He was James' son, the traitor's godson, Remus' cub and Peter's little friend.

To this day, she remembered all her visits to the Potter's, after they had had Harry, and one visit stuck out to all of them. He had gotten her to read a book to him when he was younger about animals and their names, it was quite extensive for a children's book, and when she was finished. Harry had pulled on her robes and had pointed to a picture of James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter. She had picked it up and had given it to him. He then got her to read the book again and every now and again he would point to a person and an animal. She had understood when he had pointed out Remus to the wolf, James to the Stag (which she had expected ever since she caught them going to the Shrieking Shack one night) and the others with their animagus forms, including Peter as a rat. However, the detail she remembered had been her turning the page and Harry pointing to Peter before he was quickly scooped up by said man and taken away. On the next page had been a snake. She had always wondered what that had meant but, whenever she had brought it up, it had been dismissed. She didn't know why the memory had come back so vividly, maybe it had something to do with her headache… However, she wasn't going to get the chance to find out because as she shut her eyes, Neville Longbottom fell off of his broom, catalysing the events to come.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins were getting on quite nicely, much to the surprise of Madam Hooch, it was the only reason she had left them alone without supervision as she had taken Neville to see Madam Pomfrey. After she had left, Ron Weasley, who was exactly how a jealous eleven year old boy would, had picked up the rememberall that Neville had dropped and was tossing it about in the air. Harry had caught the glint out of his eye whilst talking to Hermione and Draco, who were talking quite nicely to each other to the surprise of both houses, and turned to look at Ron.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wondering where to put this for Neville to find."

"Like where?"

"Top of the tree, a roof maybe..."

"Why would you do that?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you are currently mucking about with the property of one of my close friends."

"Hardly, after all you did jinx him this morning."

"Whilst I was out of wits."

"Yes because you can cast spells in your sleep."

"I wasn't truly asleep or they wouldn't have worked."

"Then you would of known it was him."

"Not if I was out of wits."

"Stop lying."

"I haven't started yet."

"You think you're so good don't you?"

"Depends on context, Ronald."

"Well if your so good, come and get it."

With that he took of to the air, and started to circle around Harry whilst glaring at him. Hermione tried to warn him about the dangers of possibly being expelled, she was not helped by Draco shouting, "While your up there stick his wand back up him arse where the rest of his valuables are!". While they dissolved into an argument, Harry flew up to meet Ron, with a steely look on his face.

"Give it here Weasley."

"Why should I? You attention seeking git!"

"Because you are acting like an enormous prat."

Ron had seen Madam Hooch returning out of the corner of his eye and threw the rememberall as far as he could. After smirking and saying, "Catch." Harry flew off in the direction of the rememberall, which just happened to be in the direction of McGonagall's office, Harry was just hoping she wasn't in! Luck was not with him that day. He had caught it at the last minute, one handed and flew back to the cheering of his peers and the intense glare of Madam Hooch. Once he had landed he was immediately questioned.

"Why were you flying when I explicitly told you not to."

"I'm sorry mam but somebody had thrown one of my friends possessions at Professor McGonagall's window and I did not want either of them to be broken otherwise our whole class would be in trouble."

"Who threw what Mr Potter?"

"Somebody threw Neville's rememberall."

"Who was it Mr Potter?"

"I am not a snitch."

"No that is a tiny golden ball with wings, who threw it?"

"I am not grassing them up."

"Potter..."

"Nope."

"I will take you to Professor McGonagall if needed."

"There is no need."

"And why might that be?"

"She is behind you."

Everyone turned around to see the stern transfiguration teacher looking at the group with one eyebrow raised. After everyone had composed herself, she said, "Potter, Weasley, with me." and she walked off being followed by the two boys. Instead of going to her office, she went to the charms classroom and asked to borrow Oliver Wood. The three boys then followed McGonagall to her office, each giving the others confused glances, or glares in Ron's case. In the end, they were told to wait outside for McGonagall to talk to someone.

After a few seconds, Ron was called in, given detention with Filch for a month and left looking rather red faced, he was shortly followed by Snape. Snape muttered, "I'll meet you in my office after tea Minerva." and walked out of the door to be met with the sight of Harry. To which he pinched the bridge of his nose and just muttered, "What have you done now Potter? While most people find your presence pleasurably, I do not. I already have you clutturing up my dungeons for the next fortnight, I do not wish for it to be longer." Harry just couldn't help himself, he had to aggravate Snape, he had been itching to ever since he had gotten to Hogwarts. "Well you see sir, while I was pleasantly enjoying my afternoon I came across a red haired bigot who was taunting me with a rememberall, me being the attention seeking whore I am, as you so kindly reminded me last night, I had to confront said bigot and return the treasure to its rightful owner because I am gallivant, according to legend. Anyway, on my quest, the bigot faced a conundrum and decided that the brightest thing to do was to test my amazing skills and throw said treasure. So I flew and caught it one handed much to the pleasure of my adoring fans, who had been prisoner of the bigot's comments whilst, I was completing my heroic deed." Snape's eyebrows were close to becoming one with his pupils. WhileOliver's eyebrows were close to joining his hairline. Harry's eyebrows remained exactly the same, a picture of innocence almost. Professor McGonagall had just come out of her office to hear, "Another weeks worth of scrubbing cauldrons and twenty points from Gryffindor."

Minerva called the boys in, put her hands on her head and just simply asked, "What did you do now?" to which she got the unsatisfactory reply of, "Professor Snape didn't like my reason for being here so he gave me detention." whilst, using the puppy dog eyes. To which she once again melted as he had used one of the looks he had used when he was a baby however, this was when he had just drawn on the walls or something. She couldn't help it and just murmured, "Okay Harry, I'll see what I can do to make Snape rethink his decision." "Thank you mam, I won't let you down, again, hopefully." All she could do was smile, nearly making Oliver fall out of his seat, the only possibly thing to do now that his eyebrows had completely joined his hairline. She saw this, coughed and returned to the topic at hand.

"Do you know how to play Quidditch Harry?"

"I know the theory but I've never had the chance to play it before."

"Well, Oliver, I've found your seeker, you just have to train him up. The pitch is booked for Saturday."

"You any good on a broom Harry?"

"Um… yes."

"Was the one handed catch whilst flying, what you said outside, true?"

"Yes."

"Then you are good at flying, see you Saturday."

"Okay then… but I thought first years couldn't play?"

"That's because most of them cannot fly properly and would endanger themselves."

"Like how Draco was told his grip was wrong and could break his hand in some weather."

"Exactly."

"Okay, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity mam."

"It's alright Harry, now go enlighten your friends, they should be outside the door by now demanding your innocence."

She was proved right by a very feminine gasp and a whispered conversation.

"How did she know we were there?"

"I don't know."

"Should we leave?"

"There's no point now Herms."

"Does she know Harry is innocent?"

"I thought you were supposed to be smart, didn't you hear her last comment."

"Don't you dare insult my intelligence Malfoy!"

"Why shouldn't I, you misunderstood the conversation thereby making me, the smarter one."

"You take that back right now."

"Make me."

"I can't I would get in trouble and you aren't worth it."

"Don't you dare insult my worth, I am a Malfoy."

"A bigot you mean."

"I think you should take that back because I will fucking jinx you, even if you are a girl."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Oh that's it _Anse-"_

"Bring. It. _Alte-_ "

"-Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, if you would kindly drop your wands."

After successfully stopping the spells, she saw Harry re-pocket his wand while giggling. After about five minutes, Harry had calmed down enough for her to carry on the meeting. In the end, she told the quarrelling pair that Harry was to be put on the Quidditch team, after he had learnt how to play, and that he had, since the start of term, accumulated twenty-two days of detention. His two friends sitting next to him were gobsmacked. He had the sense to look disappointed in himself and turned on the puppy dog eyes, to which Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes. In the end, Hermione and Draco were to join him in detention for the next week along with the twins. Now if Neville could just end up there, the whole gang would be together.

Anserrus - Causes victim to honk like a goose (Draco's spell)

Altero - Changes/Alters an inanimate object (Hermione's spell. She was going to change the colour of Draco's clothes. This is one of the spells she had pestered people to help her learn when school started… theoretically...)


	18. Chapter 18

In the end, Harry needn't have worried about Neville joining the gang in detention because as soon as he had gotten back to class, Neville had blown up his cauldron in potions. Earning him detention in which he was going to learn how to 'read instructions properly and how to act competently'. To which Neville was shaking in his boots as he hadn't met the real Snape yet. To make Neville feel a bit easier, Harry reminded him that the twins, Hermione, Draco and himself would also be there so the Gryffindor to Slytherin ratio would be bigger, hence the fact of them dominating the evening and 'making the Slytherins bow down at there feet'. To which Draco gave the customary snort.

Later that night, the gang returned to the dungeon to meet grouchy Snape then, to completely confuse Neville, his drastic personality switch. As they drew closer to the potions classroom, Neville began to tremble and even though Harry was trying to console him, he couldn't help but laugh as he knew what was going on, but to anyone else, the boy-who-lived looked quite sadistic.

"Not even three days in and you and your little posse are late to a detention Potter."

"Yep just thought I'd stroll in looking like an arrogant brat."

"Well at least your honest Potter, twenty points from Gryffindor."

"REALLY? I was just agreeing with your earlier comments."

"Well stop dwaddling like pests and come in or do I have to dock more points. Draco I am most disappointed that you have associated yourself with these... things."

They walked into the room and Snape drew his wand slowly, increasing the trembles of poor Neville. He smirked and walked back to the door, robes billowing behind him and cast a spell wandlessly. At this point you could literally feel the fear roll off of Neville in waves. Slowly walking back to them, Snape's grin turned almost feral as he began to laugh throatily upon seeing Neville ready to melt into the potion bench, just as his potion had done that afternoon. After a couple of minutes of hoarse laughter from the dungeon bat, the other children joined in and Neville promptly fell out of is chair, this did not help the others recover from their earlier fits of laughter.

A good five minutes later, most had recovered so they went back to the detention where Snape basically told them that they would be making potions and improving their skills, which were lacking in some areas then, only then, did they think to let Neville know the truth and Harry being Harry just had to do it in the most abstract way possible.

"So Sev, What's happenin' bruv?"

"What foul language, what have I told you about speaking like that do I need to get the soap and wash your mouth out? Why did I let you start watching that program?"

"Cuz I tricked you through using g.u.i.l.t."

"Do you have your proof or a dictionary BECAUSE if not, I shall arrange for one to be sent to your dorm."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me brat."

"Oh it's on like donkey kong! Don't you agree guys."

Being brought back to the room, Severus realised that Harry's so called 'banter' had just got him to release his dungeon bat persona, he felt like face-palming just like the muggle craze however, it was all he could do to not laugh at the face Neville pulled.

"Ah, Mr Longbottom, may I ask what exactly it is that you are staring at?"

"Um..."

"Could it be that Harry hadn't told you about the situation?"

"Um..."

"That I am his somewhat adoptive father."

"Somewhat?"

"That is what it is when you steal a child who should be rightfully yours by law."

Once again Neville was gob-smacked so Harry just pointed to him and said, "Second Godfather." then proceeded to explain how adamant his mother had been about two godfathers in case anything happened, like the false incarceration of Sirius Black. After a rather eventful evening of explanations, someone let Harry's detention mantra slip.

"How many?"

"Um… I think she said 21 more?"

"You've been here barely a week."

"You said to act like a Gryffindor, so I did. You know the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin and Hermione in Ravenclaw."

"Yes I do but that does not excuse having detention every night but one does it!"

"It would be every night but, I needed sometime to go exploring."

"Do not tell me it was the third floor corridor."

"It wasn't the third floor corridor."

"For Merlin's sake Harry! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I don't think so."

"HARRISON JAMES POTTER YOU ARE NOT TO ACT LIKE A STUPID GRYFFINDOR SO STOP PUTTING YOURSELF IN LIFE ENDANGERING SITUATIONS BEFORE YOU ADOPT A PEOPLE SAVING THING"

"'Kay..."

"SPEAK CLEARER YOU ARE NOT CLASSED AS A CHAV! HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?"

"Calm down Sev, I don't try to die and I know I'm not a chav, I just like annoying you like that for our classy commentary. Please calm down... I didn't mean to upset you..."

"I apologise but, you know how the headmaster is."

"Yes I do that is why we were planning on pranking him again. After all, a snake in the lions den is a dangerous thing."

The light chuckles lightened the mood as Harry's 'posse' looked on in utter confusion, the two had such mood swings it was unbelievable but, they knew that Harry was somehow in danger and that the headmaster was trying to manipulate him but, they never understood how far this problem had stemmed. Now they did and now? They were all freaking out inside.

Elsewhere in Hogwarts, around the supposed curfew, Dumbledore was ecstatic with his potion. He had successfully completed one for Severus which was odour- and colour-less. Hopefully the snarky guilt will consume this one and change to suit his plans. Now that the complex potion was done, Dumbledore could start brewing the will bending potion that he was going to infuse into with the food, under the guise of a prank done by no other than the Weasley twins of course. Only they would know it wasn't them and then nobody would know who had done it as Dumbledore could simply tell them to forget. A simple, yet effective method. Of course this potion would only be used on first through to fifth year as sixth and seventh would be leaving soon and the devotion that continued potion consumption would cause would not be all that relevant. He would simply let the majority influence the minority. As he leaned back in his chair and relaxed, he noticed an active charm he had been too preoccupied to notice before.

He strode over to the bookcase where his monitoring charms on the students were kept however, this charm was actually a quill to scribe the names of students who had broken through the ward on the third floor corridor. Much to his joy, the names on the list were the students he had planned, well most of them anyway: Harrison James Potter, Fred Weasley and George Weasley. He was happy that Harry was apparently adventurous like his father, maybe putting him with a loving family would have been best for his plans originally… Oh well, he thought, he couldn't change anything now; it had worked to his favour anyway. Dumbledore was happy that his name was accompanied by two of the Weasley's, as their family were firm Dumbledore supporters and often took his word as gospel, like the gullible little Gryffindors they were. He had rather been hoping it to be the impressionable first year though, as that boy was extremely envious and greedy. He could have been a good little spy. Dumbledore smiled off into the distance, plotting to make Ron befriend Harry and to spy on him for Dumbledore, in return, he would have to be given something to satisfy his over-whelming greed. Maybe some money every now and then. It was a good plan and his smile quickly turned into a smirk.

He didn't notice 'his' phoenix. Fawkes looked over to the headmaster in despair at how far he had fallen and how far he was willing to go to win this chess game off his. In the end, Fawkes gave off a small trill and went to find the boy he was going to harm. Fawkes appeared above him and cried a single tear on him before flashing away, hoping to give the boy some protection. However, while it did help and proceeded to heal the scar, it began to fight with the soul piece within his scar. Thus, causing Harry to collapse in pain in the middle of a deserted hallway.


	19. Chapter 19

"Excellent job Fawkes." Albus Dumbledore smiled. News had reached him quickly about Harry's collapse in the hallway and was happy that this would give him a chance to create a compulsion for Harry to be friends with one Ron Weasley, instead of that Malfoy boy. Fawkes looked on in despair, from what the young phoenix knew, the tear was supposed to protect him, instead it was combating with some dark magic within his system which he hadn't been aware of. The sad trill Fawkes released was interpreted as encouragement to the completely deranged headmaster as he proceeded to look through a tomb of dark curses. After a dangerous gleam in his eyes, Dumbledore left for the hospital wing with a plan dominating his mind. Behind him were the horrified faces of the previous headmasters, and a depressed phoenix.

As he glided through the castle, many people saw the scheming look upon their headteacher's face, their past perceptions about him being a kind, grand-fatherly figure being dashed with every step he took. His ugly purple robes just attracted more attention to him as he marched towards the hospital wing. To his delight, the mediwitch was in one of her banishing moods as he saw one bushy haired bimbo and a bleach blond brat being pushed out of the hospital wing. Much to their horror, they knew there was nothing they could do as the headmaster approached them and walked off grumbling. Little did he know, the two children were off to get Snape as he was both Harry's father and the only person who could find out why Harry healed so strangely.

Dumbledore quickly adopted the grandfatherly persona as he approached Madame Pomfrey.

"How's young Harry doing Poppy?"

"He is in perfect health however, the tear Fawkes cried upon him is battling some dark magic trapped within his scar, we may have to ask the goblins to perform a ritual on him to remove it as it as soon as possible. We will also have to get a mind healer in for his guardian if it is what I suspect it to be..."

"That maybe best, why don't you go make a fire call, I shall watch over Harry."

"Thank you, headmaster. I can already tell that he is trying to beat both his father's and Severus' records!"

"Like father like son."

Poppy walked off laughing lightly. Normally, she would stay with her patients no matter what however, Dumbledore had fixed that within the staff meal. The change had been subtle, the ones that were harder to break, normally were. He had changed it so she would only leave if he was there. This wasn't a hard change as Pomfrey had previously trusted him by herself and was devoted to her patients. This change just made it easier for him to gain access to people to control.

He walked over to Harry's bed and chuckled.

"Oh you do make it easy for me child. Adventurous spirit, detention seeker and nosey maybe this way was better as all I have to do is tempt you."

He quickly placed the charms on Harry and made them invisible to normal health checks, which he knew the mediwitch would do from now on. The only thing that could possible counteract these charms were the rituals the goblins would do to remove the dark magic Lily had unknowingly placed into Harry. After all, she may have been the brightest witch of her generation but, she also was devoted to Albus Dumbledore's teachings, the man who proved and protected her best friend, to her knowledge. Once he saw Pomfrey return, he said goodbye to her, after she told him that the goblins were coming through, he was hoping that they would bring Harry's mysterious foster father with him but, the goblins were mistrustful of him so, he had to vacate the medical wing. Unfortunately, this was not before he encountered the snarky potions professor.

"Good Evening, Severus."

"Is it? Potter hasn't turned up to his detention and my godson told me that he ended up in the hospital wing yet again."

"Yes he has. Fawkes sensed that Harry was in pain and surprisingly went and cried a tear on him to help heal him unfortunately, this played up with the dark magic inside his curse scar and has rendered him unconscious, due to the two opposing forces of magic within his head."

"Of course it did."

"Severus I know you may not like the boy, due to him being the splitting image of your childhood nemesis, but, he is only a boy. Anyway, the goblins have been called to do a ritual upon him."

"Am I needed here or may I return to my detention, no doubt the brats are wrecking havoc in my classroom."

"I don't think they would dare with your godson there."

"They better not corrupt him or I will deal them detentions with Filch."

"That's a tad harsh isn't it my boy, they're only children after all."

"Hmm…"

"I shall take my leave, I have to console Fawkes. He feels bad about causing young Harry harm."

With that Albus walked away with a small smile on his face, as Snape walked back to his natural habitat determined to get his hands upon the boy as soon as he leaves the hospital wing.

The goblins arrived in thirty minutes precisely and quickly moved Harry and all of their equipment into a spare classroom but, after what they saw, they swore to be even warier than they already were of Albus Dumbledore. A feat Ragnok himself did not think possible!

During their ritual, the goblins noticed several magical manipulations placed upon Harry that were affecting the ritual. These were including, but not limited to, a bound on his magic which was the normal bind on children's magic (however, it had been a second so when the first one was taken off at eight, the second one would have been ignored) and a derivative of the polyjuice potion that made him look more like his father than his mother, which was probably to make him look like a more iconic of a hero. A communal of growls later, one goblin relieved the mediwitch by saying, "Expect some changes." She slowly nodded and left the room knowing the rituals to be sacred to the goblins and secret to those who partook in them. After silencing spells were placed, they began their ritual.

Oblivious to the screaming the pre-teen was doing, the goblins took off every boundary and dark magic placed upon his person. This process took approximately thirty minutes and by the end of it, Harry was in a natural sleep and looked quite different to anyone who noticed. His jet black hair kept the 'just-shagged' look but, was now dark auburn, especially when light hit it, and his round face became more angular fitting for both the Potter and Evans name. Surprisingly enough though, Harry also grew about two inches, he was always on the small side, contrary to his parents past heights but, no one expected it to be because of a secret bind on his magic. But most shocking was the child's power, though it shouldn't of surprised anyone as he had two extremely powerful parents and equally powerful god parents.

That night Severus came to the hospital wing to see if Poppy needed any more potions as she often did this close to the start of the year with both the jovial and disturbing cases that the new academic year brought, he was also trying to find Harry but he didn't seem to be in the hospital wing. Walking around looking for anybody, Severus stumbled upon a weeping mediwitch in her office. What he didn't expect was the conversation they were about to have.

"He looks so much like them Severus."

"Who does?"

"Harry Potter, the goblins came and.. and.."

"And what Poppy?"

"Someone put invisible glamours and binds on him when he was a year old, just a couple of weeks before their death… nobody would of noticed if Fawkes hadn't cried on him, nobody would of checked for them… He's the perfect mix of them Severus, it hurts more to think that he's grown up a lie and was denied his heritage and himself."

"What do you mean?"

"Go see for yourself and really look, not just a glance."

She shakily pointed to the only occupied bed in the room. Snape started shaking, even though he had raised Harry for ten years, he wasn't ready to meet any more than Lily's emerald green eyes. When he reached the other side of the room he paled substantially. Gone was the quite small, round faced, black haired miscreant. In his place was a boy with a more angular face with dark auburn hair, the perfect mix of James' and Lily's. He looked exactly like their son should, not like some messiah-like copy of his father. He looked upon the boy and croaked out, "Has he still got Lily's eyes?" After Poppy replied with a yes, she sat in surprise as she realised that Severus did indeed care for Harry and didn't hate him like everyone believed. Being smarter than anyone gave her credit for, knew that this had to be for a reason.

They returned to their hiding space and after a couple of drinks to calm themselves down, Severus gave the lie about why he was there, but accidentally asked Poppy to notify him when Harry woke up. He then realised, quickly putting in that it was for some detention Minerva had set him. Unbeknownst to the pity party in the healer's office, Dumbledore was looking over Harry, disappointed with the thoroughness of the goblins but, most importantly checking his handiwork. Displeased that everything was removed, he began with his newest plan, casting some spells to affect the child's loyalty. He still needed the manipulated form of Voldemort which was possessing Quirrel so, he placed a spell upon Harry that caused him to feel pain whenever he was in a five metre radius of Severus. It was an old, medieval spell that had been used by rich families to make sure that children fell in love with their intended. After all, what was a bit of negative reinforcement for control? Then, with haste, he put a compulsion charm on Harry so that he would spend time with Ron over Draco and left.

Exiting just in time, the two near-to intoxicated adults didn't start the riot, one of them so obviously wanted to. On Snape's way out, Poppy said something in her clearly intoxicated state. "I've been feeling weird recently. There's so much weird magic in here and you know what? You know what Sev? I don't like it! I'm a witch and I don't like it? Should I do a thorough medical scan spell on people that come in here because something just isn't right! Like chocolate frogs! Why do they have to move? I just want to eat them… they can't feel pain can they? OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE! Those poor chocolate frog families… I'm gonna ban them… I'm-" Severus quickly sobered after the start of her intoxicated rant but zoned out right away at the chocolate frog part. He looked over to Harry's bed and made a note to scan Harry properly tomorrow… just in case. After bidding Poppy goodnight, the dungeon bat returned to his bed, hoping to sleep off the impending hangover.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry woke up feeling peculiar. He glanced around in a clear daze trying to figure out why felt peculiar, finding nothing out of the ordinary, except for yet again being in the hospital wing, he looked for an escape from the crazed mediwitch. Finding the golden opportunity, he jumped out of bed and tried to make a run for it, only to fall over…

"Haven't noticed the changes yet?"

"What changes?"

"How about the two inches of height?"

"What?"

"The no glasses?"

"How?"

"The dark auburn hair?"

"Um..."

"When did that happen?"

"Yeah."

"Two days ago when the goblins took off all of the binds placed upon yourself, before removing the dark magic that was influenced into your head."

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Well, if you are going to beat your father's record, you might as well get along with me."

"Umm… deal? What's your name then?"

"Madame Pomfrey."

"You know what I mean!"

"I do and I am not falling for that one, now hurry along! It's Tuesday, around lunchtime. If you hurry along you can meet your friends in the lunch hall."

"Thanks Madame."

Poppy giggled as she returned to her post as the young lad hurried off, nearly falling over again. Apparently, an extra two inches did not equate to the falling over in his head. Just like a Hufflepuff she fondly remembered from last year…

Harry dashed into the great hall and plonked himself down next to Hermione. He began eating without saying a word due to seeing which facial expression Hermione was wearing whilst reading. This one had pratically screamed, "Distract me and I will castrate you." After a couple of minutes, Hermione finally raised her head from her book to see who had sat down next to her. Not recognising the dark auburn hair or the tall-ish boy, she started to introduce herself.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and you are?"

"Eating."

"There's no need to be rude."

"No there isn't."

"So why are you being rude?"

"Because you didn't notice little ol' me."

"Why you… you sound just like... Harry?"

"She notices! Hallelujah! And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one Herms!"

"Ha ha ha, what happened?"

"Some old coon put bounds on my magic and appearance to make me a figurehead, corrupted my mother's sacrificial ritual to put dark magic into me and then forgot to take everything off when I was eight. They called the goblins to undo all of it but, my head feels weird. It shouldn't do but, it does..."

"Did you tell Pomfrey?"

"You can't tell them anything."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later, trust no one but Sev for the time being."

"Why?"

"Trust me Herms."

"Okay..."

"You make it sound so difficult..."

"It's the second week and you have over 20 detentions, been in the hospital wing for nearly half of the time and we have pulled a prank."

"Point taken."

They continued their meal in comfortable silence until Harry realised that he didn't have any of his school books, nor did he know what lesson he had so, he ran clumsily to the dorms to retrieve his books. What nobody saw was the quick nod from one Albus Dumbledore to one Ronald Weasley.

Harry ran upstairs to the dormitory and search around his trunk, pulling out various books looking for his timetable. However, after five minutes of searching, he was coming close to admitting defeat and asking someone else, when he heard a voice from the doorway call, "We have a free then charms." He removed the needed books for both the free and charms then, turned around to thank who had told him. At the moment he was sort of 'frenemies' with Ron, so he hadn't expected it to be him who was helping him.

"Um.. Thanks Ron."

"S'all right Harry, so why do you look different?"

"There were appearance and magic binds on me which got removed last night."

"So this is what you usually look like?"

"I think so but I'm not really sure."

"Well, you look good mate."

"Thanks Ron."

"… So what's your favourite Quidditch team?"

"Out of the ones I know, I have to say… Chudley Canons."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know people think they're underrated but, I've always liked them. Though I have only heard of around four teams as my dad's a squib who hates flying even though its one of the only things he can do!"

"Mate, Chudley Canons is my favourite team too!"

"Really?"

"Yup, it was the first game I ever went to see, left an impact ya know."

"Well, yeah! Must of! You're so lucky!"

"I guess I was..."

"No shit Sherlock!"

"Whose Sherlock?"

The boys were laughing together as they walked into the library much to the distaste of Draco and the horror of Hermione, who personally believed that disruptive behaviour within a library, that wasn't book related, was the greatest of all sins. Of course, the giggling pair learnt this the hard way as several rolls of parchment were promptly thrown at their head, much to the frustration of Madam Pince who thought that she would finally be able to like the students. Realising their 'mishap' they stifled their grins to apologise to the inhabitants of the library then, made their way over to join Hermione, Draco and the rest of their study group. However, this highlighted that something was wrong as opposed to sitting in his usual seat, Harry made his way over to sit in the spare seats next to Ron.

Throughout the hour, people were sending strange glances to Harry as he wasn't acknowledging Draco and was near to devoted to conversations with Ron and what he had to say, inflating Ron's ego even more. Also, Harry was acting more of a background character than before and when there was arguments between the houses, he didn't really step in, he just watched on portraying the conflict within his mind, while still trying to pay attention to what Ron was trying to say. At the end of the period, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins walked towards Charms together, still giving Harry the weird looks he was quite oblivious to. He was trying to convince Ron that pranks had their benefits and that he should try doing one sometime. It was only when Ron said that he may play one on Draco that Harry practically announced something wrong by saying, "Draco?" Hermione practically sprinted in front of him and felt his forehead for a temperature then asked him a variety of questions. After getting unsatisfactory answers, the thought struck her.

"Harry, didn't you say that your brain felt weird at lunch today and that it shouldn't."

"Um… yes?"

"Right, I'm taking you back to the hospital wing."

"No you're not! I only just got away from her however, I could use the time to find out her first name... She will keep me in there over night, with no regards to my education."

That had certainly struck a nerve with Hermione as she quickly agreed and in the end they compromised that they will go and see Madame Pomfrey after Charms. Harry agreed as if all these people thought that there was something wrong, then something must be. He noticed a bleach blond kid behind him looking hurt so, Harry turned around and stared at him.

"Well, you must be Draco."

"How can you tell?"

"The hurt on your face and the fact that you stopped walking when I questionned the name 'Draco'. Also, the looks you were giving me in the library signified that something was wrong."

"Well, you are correct."

"Am I not always? Something must definitely be wrong in both scenarios if I am not always right! I mean how will Snape question my arrogance then? I cannot deny him such necessities, it is paart of our relationship, don't you know!"

"Prat."

"Now I can see that we are very good friends. Why would someone want me to forget you?"

"I'm Slytherin and my father's not the most 'savoury' of people."

"But who would do it?"

"Aren't you going to suspect Dumbledore?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Well we know why Ravenclaw wasn't your house now..."

"Yep! We are definitely friends!"

"Was that a 'yep' a heard? Oh, your dad is going to be most happy when he hears."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Yes I would, you've taught me that much!"

"Touche-"

Their tennis match was soon broken up by Snape's arrival. As Snape passed, Harry felt pain in his abdomen. He cast a strange look at Snape who just quizzically lifted his eyebrow and said, "Try to stay out of the hospital wing Mr Potter, injuries do not get rid of detentions." then glided off. Harry, who was about to retort to the figure that was gliding away, noticed the sudden relieve from the pain. He just blinked and went into his mind, wondering why he had forgotten Draco and why he had just had fleeting pain in his abdomen. Hermione's thoughts matched his as they walked towards charms, wondering just what had happened in the hospital wing, except for his physical changes, after Draco and herself were hurried out by Madame Pomfrey, and why had it changed Harry so much?


	21. Chapter 21

Once Hermione had thought it through, she knew everything was connected to Harry's unconscious state from within the hospital wing and that any and all people could enter there throughout the day. Knowing that there must have been wards or something around the beds, she put it down to being someone powerful like the upper years or the teachers. The obvious candidate was Dumbledore however, they couldn't just pin their hopes on him being the culprit in case someone else was an accomplice or even, behind these strange happenings. These thoughts were exactly why Hermione should have been in Ravenclaw. It was then that she decided that instead of dragging Harry to Madame Pomfrey, she would get Snape to look over him during their 'detention'.

The charms lesson went as fluently as normal. Harry was engrossed and most disappointed that he would have to leave the room at the end of the lesson. He had spent his lesson following his normal mantra of getting the spells right in the first few goes, engaging Professor Flitwick in a conversation about charms following with, helping others to perfect the charms. However, instead of walking around and asking if anyone needed help, he had simply sat down next to Ron and helped him. Leaving Hermione, Draco and Daphne (who had also perfected it) to help everyone else. This again got strange looks sent over to him however, this time, he noticed and asked Hermione, "Am I doing something wrong? I know I normally go around and help people?" which she just simply replied with, "It's because you are practically glued to Ron whilst, you two are normally 'frenemies'. Normally you are talking with Draco or helping him to teach others." After hearing this, he went to help others, trying to figure out why he was acting so strangely.

After lesson, Hermione couldn't wait to get Harry to Snape. Though as they were walking to the dungeons, Harry began to feel the fleeting pain again. It fluctuated in how extreme the pain was however, as he got closer and closer to Snape's classroom, the pain doubled ten-fold and he was almost unable to walk further. Stopping, Hermione looked at his face and began to feel pale.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"My stomach hurts again..."

"What do you mean again?"

"It's been fleeting ever since Snape walked past us on the way to charms… It's like how I used to feel when looking at the back of Professor Quirrel's turban..."

"Do you want me to go and get him? He should be about three metres away."

"Yes..."

Hermione ran to Snape, calling for him to hurry and bring his healing kit. Not questionning her, he got it from his desk and followed her to where she was pointing. However, the closer Snape got, the greater pain Harry was in. Noticing this he took an experimental step forwards, only to hear Harry cry out in pain. He then took two backwards to hear Harry sigh in relief.

"Hermione, walk towards Harry."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Hermione walked towards Harry and it had no effect. He raised an eyebrow in question and went to take a step forwards again, only to hear Harry wince. He put his foot back down and took several steps backwards until Harry's posture relaxed. Feelings of envy began to creep up on the older man who had noticed that his presence was causing Harry pain while, all he wanted to do was to walk up, register his new look, exchange some of their normal quips and just simply hug him as others could.

Trying to keep control of his emotions, he called out to Hermione to come back so he could explain what was going on. If he could get a word in edge ways, he could of anyhow.

"Why are you not walking over there, hugging him and making him better again? He is in pain and you are the most qualified person to care for him. You have healer training, a potions mastery," "Miss Granger-"

"-and you regularly look after young children and their friends. What is wrong with you? I do not care that you have to 'keep appearances' or that you are now my teacher,

"Miss Granger-"

"-get your dungeon bat ass over there and FIX HARRY!"

"HERMIONE GRANGER. Think about the situation if you are clearly the Ravenclaw you are supposed to be. We all know what the hat meant to say before it was tricked into saying Gryffindor. Think about what happened whenever I took a step closer to him, I know you noticed it. Now you tell me why I can't go over there and hug my godson! It is not a matter of appearances any more!"

Hermione thought about it. She had realised what the Professor had meant and wanted to apologise. She could only guess at how much it pained him to be the one to cause pain whenever he came within a certain radius of him.

"I'm sorry. What do I need to do?"

"Where is his pain?"

"He says it is the abdomen and that it feels like how he felt whenever he looked at the back of Professor Quirrel's head."

"Give him a pain reliever and the calming draught from the bag, it should be sufficient as I am seemingly outside of the range. Before that, I want you to measure the range. Go over to him and tell him I'm sorry for what I am about to do."

Hermione rushed back over to tell Harry what they had deduced. He nodded, his breathing back to normal, sending a small smile over to his adoptive dad, knowing how much this pained the both of them. Hermione hugged him and reassured him that this would be sought out before nodding to Snape to begin.

Severus took small, tentative steps towards Harry, not wanting to cause him pain. It was the one thing he had wanted to promise to Harry for his childhood, which he hadn't gotten in his and now he had to. He had his suspicions on who's magic this was, it wasn't hard to tell. He was just praying to Merlin that it was as he had suspected and not something entirely different like Harry having adverse effects to the essence of Voldemort within his dark mark. He was still walking forwards when Hermione noticed a hitch in Harry's breath, following to him clamping down on her hand telling her that Severus had breached the radius. Calling out for him to stop, Severus noticed that this was about five metres… the longest five metres he had ever experienced in his whole life. Once again, he found himself beginning for the first scenario and not the second.

Once they had found the distance, Snape made a mental note and raised his Occulmancy shields to the highest standard, not trusting his emotions at this point. He saw Hermione do exactly as he say before feeling a probe to his mental shields. He immediately forced them higher before seeing Harry out of the corner of his eye look meaningfully towards him, dropping them to let his son talk, Snape bowed his head and silently cried. Harry began the communication.

"Dad… I'm scared."

"So am I my child."

"What should I do? Somebody's making me forget people apparently… What if I forget you too?"

"What do you mean, 'forget people'?"

"I couldn't remember Draco earlier, I still can't properly..."

"Has anything else strange happened?"

"My head felt weird earlier, that's why Hermione brought me to you in the first place. She didn't want to leave me in the hospital wing on my own after what's apparently happened this time. According to Hermione, I'm spending more time than usual around Ron… I feel like I have to be around him or something bad will happen. What's going on dad? My mind hurts… It feels like there are so many things there which shouldn't be… I don't know what to do.. help me."

"I will my son, I will… I promise you, I will protect you better. I never should have let you be in there on your own..."

"I don't care about that. I just want to be close to you… why did he do this to us?"

"I don't know my child, I don't know..."

Realising that they were both crying wrecks, staring at each other from five metres away, Snape broke the connection with Harry and begun to instruct Hermione on what to do and how they should act. It was tearing his scarred heart open once again to see his son opposite him, knowing there was nothing he could do as of yet to alleviate his pain.

"Miss Granger… Before you two come to my lesson tomorrow, give Harry the numbness potion from the bag. It should stop most of the pain however, you will have to sit at the back of my classroom. I will place Harry next to Draco because of what he has told me and I will contact Lucius tonight to test out a theory with him. Before you go back to the dorm, go into one of the abandoned classrooms and get Harry to go through his mind palace, if something is affecting his memories there will be a tar-like substance over it. He will know what he is looking for. If anyone asks why Harry has been crying, say that the Goblins visited his guardian and found out that the dark magic that was inside his scar had been affecting his health and that Harry was feeling guilty about it. If a teacher asks why Harry isn't at his detention, say that he was so distraught that he cheeked me so much I didn't want him anywhere with me for the night so I sent him away with lines to do."

With an affirmative nod from Hermione, Snape began to walk away but not before whispering, "I love you son." and hearing the cheeky, yet teary, reply of, "Love you more."

Once Snape had entered his office, he put up several silencing charms and put a complex locking charm on his door. Once this was done, he sat down in his chair and cried. This was the first time the man had cried in a decade. The last time had been after seeing Lily's body with her emerald orbs looking lifelessly towards her child, as if she trying to savour his looks before her impending death. Now it was towards her emerald eyed son and himself, who were once again being denied a family. As Snape wallowed more and more in his sorrow, he begun to realise several things… one of them being that Harry had absolutely no protection, another being that people had been telling him that their heads felt weird, now it sounded as if compulsion charms were being used and if that was the case, Dumbledore could go anywhere and do anything, due to the amount of power he effortlessly put into them and the last, and most heart-breaking, being that Lily's last look upon her son was fake. She had never known what her own son had looked like. She should have easily of known but, it was another thing that was denied to her as a mother.

Knowing that he wasn't going to stop these pessimistic thoughts and drink himself into oblivion, for the second night in a row, he called for some company. He knew he had had to call Lucius for help with Harry's condition and there was no time better than the present to break him from this mindset. With this in mind, he lent before the Floo and called out to his old friend.


	22. Chapter 22

Hi, it is nearing exam session and I am stressing so, I still won't be uploading regularly for about two months. I will try and get back on track after my AS exams but for now, sorry and enjoy!

Lucius' and Severus' conversation.

* * *

"Lucius?"

"Severus? This is early for you to be calling, isn't it?"

"I need your help?"

"Have you been drinking?"

"How did you know?"

"You never openly ask for help unless, something has gone terribly wrong and you are panicked."

"It's actually both but the second one caused by pessimism to override by rational thoughts and I need you to come break my stupor before I drink myself into Oblivion for the second night in a row."

"Second night? What's been happening at Hogwarts? It is barely into the third week!"

"Just come through… please..."

"Okay, I'll be through in a minute, let me just get Dobby to tell Narcissa."

"Don't let her follow you, I have no patience to be berated for something I didn't do."

A short nod and an authoritative shout to the house elf later, Lucius stepped through the Floo bearing a soberity potion. He took in Snape's appearance, becoming shocked at what he saw. Even when Snape was looking after Harry in the holidays and was not wearing robes, he looked better and more orderly that this. Severus was slouched over in a chair with a glass of Fire Whiskey in his hand. His cloak had been thrown off his shoulders and a couple of his shirt buttons had been undone at the top. What really shocked Lucius was his dishevelled hair and his puffy, red eyes. Something he hadn't seen on his friend, and sort of apprentice, since they were students.

"I don't want you to tell me anything until, you have drunk this soberity potion and a calming potion."

Not in the mood to argue, Severus merely sniffed it before drinking it down in one, grimacing at the taste. Lucius bit back the, "Now you know what all us peasants taste when we have one of your potions!" and waited for them to take effect. Severus noticeably sat up straighter before his facial features visibly relaxed.

"Severus, I want you to tell me what exactly has been going on at Hogwarts."

"It's been chaotic even for here… It also began before term even started..."

"Severus, give me a quick run down and then we will go through it systematically and plan out our next moves."

"Okay. At the staff meal, Dumbledore drugged everyone and tried to Obliviate me. The only reason I am not one of his puppets is because of the blocking potion I created and Harry upping my paranoia by revealing his gut feeling. Then at the sorting, there was a third party in the communications with the hat. Harry has been to the forbidden third corridor and was nearly eaten by a Ceberus after all the doors were left unlocked. The goblins removed an unstable horocrux from Harry's head and various other invisible blocks that were placed on him, including one on his DNA. Dumbledore placed compulsion charms and a radius spell on him… meaning that if Harry comes within 5 metres of me, he will feel abdominal pain."

"Three weeks..."

"Three weeks."

"But how?"

"I do not know… there's been good things as well I suppose..."

"Let's brighten the mood a bit so we effectively don't go and murder the headmaster."

"Agreed. Well Harry is doing exceptionally well in his studies, he even created a unified house study session in the first year free periods. He did that within three days and it just continues to grow. He also got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the seeker, well he was supposed to have begun training for it but, he was in the hospital, recovering from the rituals. His appearance has changed and he is now a bit taller and doesn't need glasses anymore, two things which he is undoubtedly over the moon about. He's also improved in his Occulmancy and has developed his telepathic abilities from afar so we can still converse. However, he also has accumalated over 20 days of detention due to his escapades but, he is happy or was, before all this happened..."

"How is he and Draco getting on? Draco said they were put in different houses. I always thought that Harry was going to be a Slytherin personally."

"You'd be correct."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Should I just explain everything, no matter the previous plan, as it all interlocks anyway."

"Go ahead."

"After coming home from the meeting, seeing that Dumbledore had created potions to control us. It was time to get Harry ready for Hogwarts. I had to leave before he met his friends and he was subjected to Ron Weasley's ideas for more of the train journey than he would of liked. Once he threatened both Ron and Draco for dragging Hermione into their fight, they got onto the boats.

In the sorting ceremony, Harry commented on there being a third voice, confusing the hat, making its' decisions less than ideal. It harassed your son before placing him then, when it went to sort Hermione and Harry it placed them into the wrong houses. Hermione was supposed to be a Ravenclaw but, she ended up in Gryffindor and Harry was supposed to be Slytherin but ended up in Gryffindor. Even though he wanted to be in Slytherin, I think he is fairly pleased that he can protect Hermione from the, and I quote, 'arseholes' that are in that house.

Throughout the first week, Harry played pranks and was caught wondering the castle at all hours with and without chaperones. You know that Hogwarts is housing the Philosopher's Stone at the moment, due to being a governer, well, the esteemed head master left all the doors on the third floor corridor open so, Harry, doing his normal wandering act alongside the Weasley twins, went exploring and came face to face with a ceberus called Fluffy. I think he was more annoyed at the name than the fact that all there was between them and the ceberus was a wooden door. Although he did use that excuse and his blasted puppy dog eyes on Minerva, to get out of further trouble for swearing about it.

He also got put on the Quidditch team, purely by chance. Neville Longbottom had one of the dodgier school brooms and, not being a confident flier, he promptly fell off. A rememberall fell from his pocket and Ronald Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley sons, felt jealous and flew of with it. Harry, being Harry, followed him to get it back but ended up having to fly after it and try to catch it. He managed. He caught it one handed when it was about a metre away from hitting Minerva's office window. She saw the catch, as well as the altercation, and placed Harry on the Quidditch team. I think she's also gifting him a broom for the match.

Fawkes cried a tear on Harry for some reason causing dark magic within his scar to react. In the end, he was rushed to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey treated him and sent him to sleep before the goblin's got there. When they arrived, they found an un-removed, invisible core blocker, a forced glamour charm with has affected his metamorphosis genes and some other decayed charms. However, those ones were holding and they were the most damaging. After removing those, the Goblins removed the horocrux from the scar by pushing it into an inanimate object and are waiting to destroy it. Harry's appearance changed so much… He's now the perfect mix of James and Lily. He has Lily's cheek bones and emerald eyes whilst, he has James' unruly, 'just shagged' hair and his angular face. He grew about two inches in height and his eye sight is 20:20. Me and Poppy drank and cried all night.

Then today. Today was the worst day. Dumbledore placed compulsion charms on Harry. He told me through his telepathy that his friends had said he had been acting weird. He asked them how and they mentioned Draco. Harry had no idea who Draco was and still doesn't really. I think the compulsion charm affected him more than it should have due to being straight after the Goblin's ritual. However, there was also an addition that meant Harry feels like something is going to go wrong if he doesn't stay near Ronald Weasley and has apparently been by his side since lunch time. This was pretty much resolved and I set Hermione on Harry, to get his to search his mind palace. So the compulsion charm should be sorted out however, that's not the one I'm worried about.

"Dumbledore placed another charm on him but, I have no idea how to counter it. Well I am hoping it's a spell and isn't an adverse affect to the dark mark or the extended amount I was around Harry when the horocrux was in his forehead. The spell is like no other, if Harry and myself come within a five metre radius of each other, he feels pain. Not like a headache or something. It is strong enough that I would have had to send him to the infirmary earlier if I had gone within four metres. It was heart breaking. He was so scared. He called me dad. He only calls me dad when he's very afraid and I can't… I can't protect him this time. I can't even get close to him. I have to rely on Harry's muggleborn friend to look after him for me and I know she is smart and I know she will follow my instructions but… I'm not sure I can handle her having this sort of responsibility for Harry's well being..."

"You shouldn't have to. I'm glad you called me, Draco has been wanting me to start the fight against Dumbledore on the board of governer's since the fist day of school. I just believed that he was insulted by the hat, I didn't know that all this had happened."

"Please do, he needs removing before he damages more children's futures."

"I fully agree with you there. He has too much power for how senile he is."

"How are you going to start the uprising on the board of governers? Dumbledore is drugging all of the teachers so they will be loyal to him."

"What do you mean, 'drugged?'"

"At the staff meal, Dumbledore laced all of the food with sleeping potions and something else which was unnamed, so I couldn't brew the counter. I assume he also made it specific for our blood types and magical signatures due to the law that got passed under the imbecile. Dumbledore has adapted everyone's personality although some are more subtle than others. He makes them more loyal to him, he makes them alienate my Slytherin's and he is getting them to allow him certain freedoms he previously wouldn't have had. He is getting out of hand and there isn't much I can do. I can't battle the man, I know that I am quite powerful but, Dumbledore is more so and he has m ore experience than myself. I need to play this from the shadows but, I am not sure how to as he already suspects me."

"Sometimes I forget that this is a school. There seems to be a lot m ore under handed tactic than there were in the war."

"Don't remind me..."

"I'm guessing that's where your pessimistic thoughts went earlier."

"You'd be correct."

"Do you want to tell me about your thoughts?"

"No."

"Shall I tell you about how I am going to start my side of the attack off?"

"Please, do."

"Dumbledore has once again banned the wizarding traditions from Hogwarts, disallowing the Pureblooded children to celebrate their beliefs, after declaring last year that they would be aloud to. I will start of by telling the other pureblooded members about this and then, as more people defect, I will ease in the fact of, 'if he can lie about our traditions, what lies does he spread to our children and about our children?' I do feel that using our children and traditions are a little underhanded but, if you let me, I can tell them about Harry's lack of a medical exam upon entering Hogwarts even though they knew he grew up in the muggle world. The use of Harry's fame will even sway some of the firm Dumbledore supporters. The 'dark' supporters will join me at the mention of their children's safety."

"How long have you been brewing over that one?"

"I had been thinking of how to use propaganda within the war before Tom lost his sanity and became Voldemort."

"What do you mean 'lost his sanity'? There was none when I joined!"

"I know and that is what was disappointing."

"I think you should explain properly, my head is beginning to pound."

"Sure. At the beginning of the First Wizarding War, Tom was trying to fight the political battle to get more equality for 'dark creatures', increasing wizarding child security measures and securing tradition. However, the 'light' used his hatred of muggles against him even though he had adopted the view that 'some were not the blame for all' in terms of his treatment, which Dumbledore justified for setting his belongings on fire in the orphanage. All of these measures were to improve welfare however, Tom suddenly vanished one day and Voldemort, a megalomaniac with a sadistic side, appeared and took over control. That's when the branded started and we joined because we were still fighting for those beliefs. However, as you saw everything went down a darker path as the war started up and some of the lower ranks adopted blood supremacy. Tom was never heard from again, it was only Voldemort. Everybody in his inner circle were going through similar transformations, you just weren't early enough to see them before hand."

"Do any of you know why they changed?"

"No, we have a feeling that their minds have been played with as one day they are fine then, the next, they've completely changed."

"Can you give me another example? It seems like I've missed so much by joining the inner circle so late into the war."

"You did. You know Bellatrix."

"Yes..."

"She and Narcissa used to have matching personalities. They were the mother hens, the ones behind the child welfare acts. One day, Bella went missing and nobody could find her. At that time she was pregnant and knew. She ad Rodolphus had celebrated the pregnancy the month before and she was rarely let out on her own due to being portrayed as crazy. In some sense, she was. She had some sort of multiple personality disorder which affected the way she acted. Anyway, after she returned, she was hysterical. Shouting back and forth about blood supremacy, with the cruciatus curse becoming her favourite course of all. I believe, though I would never tell Narcissa this, I think she was cursed so much with it that her Multiple Personality Disorder took a new form of an impersonation of the curse, her entire being acting in this way to try and deal with what it had cost her, her child."

"I… I never knew."

"Nobody did. The elite circle that existed when you were finishing Hogwarts and doing your master's degree was like a large family after that, we suffered so many losses in terms of ourselves that we lost what we were fighting for. In all honesty, I was happy that the war ended, but, it should have never of happened in the first place. There was a reason why I said I would go the government and only let Narcissa be a sympathiser."

"There were only about four years between us joining. How could so much have changed?"

"I don't know but, I always found it ironic when most of them spouted off about blood supremacy. After all, Voldemort is a half-blood, much like yourself."

"I know what you mean. If their mental states have changed so much, do you think they are imprisoned inside of them and that the effects could be reversed?"

"I hope so because there was so much good in the ideology that the so-called light have not done or even brushed upon."

"I can't believe I have been ignorant of this."

"Well, we were a minority following a man double our age, nobody was likely to question much. Now will you tell me about your pessimistic thoughts?"

"I suppose I have to now you've told me all of that."

"Yes you do. We are Slytherins, we trade and make boons with words."

"You just had to quote Lily didn't you."

"Yes, becauase I wanted to high five that girl when she said that. But, as I am a Malfoy, such things are beneath me."

"Of course they are. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes, you called me here for a reason. I want to know that reason and I want to help, I've pulled you down one too many dark roads with me, it's time for you to do the same."

"I suppose… After Harry tried to come to me, he was telling me that he was scared. He never admits that he is scared or that he needs help. He did both. He called me dad throughout the whole conversation as well. The one time my son truly needs me and I'm helpless. I couldn't do anything without causing him pain, except for speaking telepathically. I felt so useless. I've accomplished all this shit in my life but, I can't get within five metres of my son without causing him pain due to some sort of spell? It's ridiculous! Then, after I sent him away to try and break the compulsion charms, I came in here and drank… a lot. Then, came the even darker thoughts. I realised three things. One, I can't protect Harry and he is at his most vulnerable right now. I can't even get close to him without causing pain or suspicion. Two, Dumbledore has made himself a god damn army with all the compulsion spells he has used. So far I've had Poppy, Minerva and Harry tell me that htier head feels weird or there is weird magic around them and I've been able to do nothing. Then, it comes back to Lily. She died facing her son's cot, taking in his details was the last thing she had ever done and it was a lie. Lily never knew what her own child looked like or his full potential. She never got to hear his first words or see his accidental magic. She missed out on everything she had prepared for. She had worked so hard to be the perfect mother and it got taken away from her. Leaving Harry without a family and now that he has one with me and all of his friends, it is beng taken away from him. Dumbledore is leaving him with no one and is going to make him into a martyr. I just feel so useless."

"When you said pessimistic, I did not know that you meant depressing. Severus, you are not useless. You have given that boy so much happiness which he wouldn't have gotten if you left him there. Dumbledore was planning to send Harry to his relatives. Lily's sister, Petunia and I know from you and McGonagall that they are the worst kind of muggle. This spell, he has obviously got it from a spell book and as it causes pain, it is more than likely from a dark magic tomb. So, Dumbledore lives within Hogwarts so the tomb will obviously be in his office alongside the notes for his potion, all you have to do is go in there and get them and I know that both you and Harry can get in there undetected."

"I hadn't thought it through that well..."

"That much is evident Severus and as for being useless, remind me what you did for your potions masters?"

"Created three potions and wrote an essay."

"So deciphering any found potions notes or, by finding a sample of a potion, you can find out what it is and what it supposed to do."

"Yes and seeing that there is a common theme of compulsion within what has been going on, I can narrow down the ingredients and possible notes a bit. I could get Hermione and Harry to take copies of things from within Dumbledore's office then we can search through them to find the exact potions. If done correctly, we could reverse the effects. However, it will be easier to get the magic signature, just not the blood sample… unless, we cure Madame Pomfrey first. Then she can call a high alert for some deadly disease that we all have to be checked for."

"Exactly. Have you got any idea for when he is commencing the main phase of his plan. It is going to be some grand feast where everyone has to be in the dining hall at the same time. So either Halloween or Christmas, due to Dumbledore's preference of traditions."

"Right, I say we try and delay it until Christmas to try and brew the perfect counter. You said you created a blocking potion. Yes, it blocks all potions from entering your system for six hours then, at the end you get a catalogue of what potions you have had and what the counter's are."

"I say if you can't find his notes, try to adapt that potion to catalogue the ingredients of each potion and some sort of instruction manual. I'm guessing you used rune and spell craft functions for the catalogue function?"

"Yes."

"Well, until you get the notes, I will look into those in our library with Narcissa, she's been looking for another project."

"At least I know it will be done thoroughly."

Lucius laughed as he walked towards the Floo, probably to meet his exasperated wife. Before stepping through, Lucius asked, "Do you want me to come tomorrow for their potions lesson? Just in case the pain numbing potion isn't good enough and one of you has to leave." Knowing well and fully that Severus would leave so Harry could brew. Severus murmured a quick yes and wandered off to bed as his fire died down to embers. Just before going to bed, he heard his son whisper, "Good night dad, love you." telepathically, causing him to smile softly before finally falling to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

A.N. Sorry for not uploading for so long, I haven't really had enough time to write chapters. I am now hoping to go back to my old schedule of one chapter a week. Thank you for sticking with the story!

* * *

It was right before Snape's lesson and Harry couldn't be more petrified. He knew he shouldn't be but ever since yesterday, he was trying to not forget anybody and this took a serious affect on his day. Where he normally found things quite easy, he began to have difficulties and daydreams leading to his friends worrying and his getting more and more freaked out. Harry stood in the corridor waiting for Hermione. Harry had made her take the potion with her this morning, too scared of his recent predicament to take it for himself. Luckily, before he could freak out too much, Hermione popped around the corner in front of the other Gryffindors.

"I do not know how you manage to get around this castle so quickly!"

"I apologise Miss Granger, they are trade secrets."

"Why don't you come into this alcove, I have the MEDICINE that Pomfrey wanted you to have."

"Okay, Herms."

Rolling his eyes at her poor lying, he followed her into an alcove to take the potion. He knew what it was just by looking at it, as expected from a potions masters sort of son. It was bland and almost looked like the personification of nothingness therefore, it was a numbing draught. He just hoped it was the right strength or the next h our was going to be a nightmare!

The short answer would be that the potion was too strong. The long answer would be…

"Hermione, how strong was that potion?"

"I'm not sure, I was just given it for you to take… why?"

"You'll find out in a bit..."

"Harry..."

"I'll be fine."

"mmm..."

"Sorry, what did you say Hermione?"

"I am quite sure that our definitions of 'fine' are quite different."

"I am pretty sure you are correct."

"Are you trying to reassure me?"

"Nope."

Trying not to facepalm, Hermione walked out of the alcove and started walking to potions. She was followed, by a partially desensitised Harry to their lesson and throughout the length of the corridor, Harry's body was getting more and more heavy. At long last, Harry got to the door only to see Hermione tapping her foot at his slowness but, not commenting as she knew why Harry was walking at that pace. They quickly entered and found their places only for Harry to faint and knock his head on the table. Draco, of course, was in shock as it is not everyday that your friend walks up to you slowly and promptly faints. Hermione's jaw dropped at Harry's faint whilst, Snape looked livid.

"Granger, Malfoy, stop gawking and get him onto the sofa in my office."

"Okay… Okay… Come on Draco..."

"Granger use _Wingardium Leviosa_ it will be easier. I will meet you both in my office to ask you what exactly happened as you were the only two to interact with him. You shall both return tonight to finish your potions."

"Yes, sir."

Hermione poked Draco in the shoulder and they cast the spell. After levitating Harry onto the sofa, they sat there in shock at their friend. Neither had any idea what was going on though, by now, the shock had set in on both of them.

"Hermione, do you know what happened?"

"Numbing draught."

"Why did he faint?"

"He said 'You'll find out in a bit' I should have stopped him and taken him to the hospital wing."

"He knew this was going to happen."

"He said… He said..."

"Hermione..."

"He… he.. s...said..."

"Hermione..."

Hermione was now crying her eyes out with Draco poorly consoling her. All they could focus on was their friend lying palely on the sofa looking completely different to how he had a week ago. They were disorientated and scared and who better to look after young children than Severus Snape.

"I'm going to have to yell to keep my persona up. I am sorry… GRANGER! Just what happened to Potter whilst you were both running late for my lesson?"

"He… Numbing Draught, sir."

"TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR… What dosage did he take?"

"The whole bottle."

"When?"

"About a minute before he collapsed."

"Do you know what type?"

"It was the one you gave me last night… You said to give it to him..."

"What?"

"It was from your medical kit."

"Do you remember what colour the bag was?"

"It was black."

"Let me just check which one I gave you… Oh Merlin… Why did he drink the whole bottle? We are going to have to take him to the medical wing again as the effects need to be countered but, he will be in pain when they are. I will brew the potion and give it to you. I want you to tell Madame Pomfrey to put Harry in a separate, close examination ward and to give him this potion."

"Draco, can you recall any physical affects that this had on him?"

"He was paler than usual and he was walking slowly and shaking a tiny bit."

"Did you catch the state of his pupils."

"I think so but I can't recall it properly..."

"I need you to breath in and out calmly while recalling the memory. I want you to look at every specific detail and tell me what you can, okay?"

"Okay… his pupils are… dilated."

"Thank you Draco. Please take him to the hospital wing. I have to get back to the class. It was lucky nothing is reactive today."

As Hermione and Draco left with Harry floating between them, Snape put his head between his hands and drew deep breaths before walking back into his class. Apparently, having Harry in his lessons were distracting as he would never normally leave a first year class on their own and the bang coming from the classroom was the reason why. Putting his head into the palms of his hands, he called for Lucius to take over his class so he could hurry to the hospital wing.

On entering, he could see Madame Pomfrey's face and she looked exasperated. She had Harry in one bed unconscious, Hermione in another being dealt for shock and Draco in between them with a look of pure concentration on his face.

"Thank goodness you are here, Severus. Could you tell me what happened, they just came in here and put Harry down. Hermione is in shock and I do not know what Draco is thinking about."

"Harry took a numbing potion because he was in a lot of pain unfortunately, it did not pass through his head to check what dosage he should take. Hermione is in shock as she was the one who gave the potion to him and Draco is trying to remember the symptoms."

"Thank you, now I can actually start helping. Do you know what type of numbing potion it was?"

"It was a common adults one however, as he should have had a childs one I am unsure how it will affect the other potions."

"None of the ones that I prescribed him would have this sort of an affect on him as he isn't allergic to anything in them."

"Are there any spells placed upon him that could interact with the potions."

"There shouldn't be, he only left here a couple of days ago… There are a few but, why?"

"I am unsure… Draco, has anything odd been happening around Harry in the few days that he has been out of the hospital wing?"

"Yes… He forgot who I was and many other things also, during our inter-house revision group he didn't act like he normally did and he let Weasley practically control him."

"Why did you not tell a teacher immediately?"

"Once someone told him what was wrong, he started to change back so, we thought it to be because of the rituals."

"Poppy, did anyone visit after we had left?"

"The only person allowed in and that close to the patients would be headmaster Dumbledore and that idea is just preposterous."

"Either way, this is your field of expertise, remove the spell and counter the potions and he should be fine. Now I have to relieve the person who took over my class."

"Who did you get to take over?"

"I called Lucius Malfoy, led him to the classroom then, left."

"Severus..."

"He is one of the school's governers and this can be part of his assessment. Neither of us did anything wrong. You may have to keep Potter in here for a few days, I shall return Granger and Mr Malfoy to the potions classroom."

With that, Severus led both Hermione and Draco out, returning Pomfrey to her former exasperated state. He looked down at Harry's two friends, nodded and then walked ahead. Once he was back outside of his classroom, he said, loud enough for his class to hear, "Detention for a month with me, see you tonight Granger. Malfoy you shall be joining her and so shall Potter once he wakes up. Next time one of you have a bad reaction to a potion, you go to adults you do not assume a dosage for a potion that may help. Do you understand?" After their nods, he patted them on the heads nad walked them into the classroom. He told his first years to tidy up and leave, pulling an exasperated Lucius into his office.

"Thank you for taking over."

"What happened this time?"

"Harry seems to be pained everytime I come within three metres of him. He also forgot Draco and his personality seemed to flip. This happened over night after the rituals. I then gave Granger the wrong potion and he took the whole bottle without checking it first. I do not know why but, it is going to be a lot harder to postphone Dumbledore's concotion as it seems that he is using spells as well."

"The only person who would have had access to Harry would be Pomfrey."

"That's what I thought however, it seems that the change in her potion was subtle. She is the same as she always was with the exception of giving Dumbledore free pass to her students and as she was always more lenient with him before..."

"It would be a simple change… This is worrying."

"I know and he hasn't even been here for two weeks..."

"Give him the same rules as first year Slytherins and see if there are any improvements."

"I shall… I will tell him tonight."

"I'll write to you soon, Severus."

Snape gave a thoughtful nod and returned to his classroom after his friend had left.


	24. Chapter 24

"Harry, it hasn't even been two weeks, can you at least try to not end up in the hospital wing."

"But madame, your presence is just too amazing, I can not cope without it."

"I had gathered but, a numbing potion, that is a bit too extreme."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"Oh, maybe you need to tell me more appropriate ways to come here."

"You could simply visit or you could ask to learn some healing spells."

"Really?"

"Not until third year for the spells but, if you really want to, you can visit me any time."

"Okay. I will do that and I promise to try and not end up here, injured, in the next month."

"That is all I ask, now run along, it's nearly time for dinner. I must say that you do have good timing."

"Why, thank you, Madame!"

"You are welcome, Harry."

Harry left feeling much better than he had in a long time. This time, his head didn't hurt and he didn't feel any of the blanks that were there before. Shrugging it off, he walked towards the dining hall and sat down opposite Hermione, next to Neville.

"Hey guys, what did I do this time?"

"You didn't check the dosage of the potion so you passed out, I went into shock and you, Hermione and Draco have detention with Snape tonight."

"What? Why?"

"For not checking the dosage or going to a teacher when you recognised the problems earlier."

"He is literally the person who told me to only go to him."

"I know that, you know that, Hermione knows that but, the rest of our class doesn't?"

"Did you escape this time, Neville?"

"Yes, just..."

"Okay."

Harry tucked into his food as if nothing was wrong and sat there contemplating the last two weeks. He had come to Hogwarts, been placed in the wrong house, created inter-house unity, been in the hospital wing twice and had broken his father's records already. All that was left was to prank somebody and then the two weeks would be complete. Looking around the hall, his gaze focused on the man who had wanted to control his life, Albus Dumbledore. Apparently, this man had a thing for lemon drops… He would need to consult with the twins and Sev. As he smirked to himself, Neville and Hermione shivered. What ever was going to happen next, was not going to be pleasant.

"Gred, Forge, you wouldn't happen to have any potions that I could borrow within the next week."

"It depends on what you want."

"Come to my detention tonight, it will piss Snape off but, anything I do does that!"

"Sure, we'll turn up, won't we Forge?"

"Sure will Gred! Dungeons at seven?"

"Off course, when else!"

Some of the older years looked sadly to their house points as if the Weasley twins were involved, their numbers would be halved. Hermione looked over to her friend with a thoughtful gaze and nodded before leaving. Harry looked to Neville for an answer but, all he received was a simple shrug so, they both returned to their food and were later joined by Ron who wanted to start a Quidditch conversation.

"You're on the Quidditch team aren't you, Harry?"

"Um… yes, but, I'm not really supposed to talk about it..."

"How are you going to play without a broom? First years aren't allowed their own brooms?"

"I have to borrow one of the teacher's or one of the school's brooms."

"Whose are you going to borrow?"

"I'm not sure yet, I'm going to try and see who has the best broom and see if they will let me borrow it if not, I have to use one of the school ones."

"Good luck."

"Thanks Ron."

"Well, see you later..."

"See ya..."

It was a strained and awkward conversation but, it was something. Harry wasn't sure if he liked this new relationship or not and he knew that it was part of Dumbledore's meddling so, he had no idea what to think of it. After a few minutes of silence, he left to go and find Hermione and where else would she be than, the library! Unfortunately, he couldn't find her so he set off for his detention early.

"So, Potter, is being on time really too good for you?"

"No. I was unsure of the time so, I thought it would be better to come here."

"Ever heard of _tempus_?"

"No, I haven't actually, you see squibs do not actually know that many spells so, they have these things called clocks. Seeing that clocks supposedly do not work here, how should I know what spell to do seeing that I have only been here for two weeks."

"In. Now."

Harry stomped into the room and burst out laughing when the door finally shut. He couldn't believe the performances that they had put on through out the weeks. He was about to say something to his father when he was pulled into a hug from behind. After snapping out of his shock, he turned around and returned the hug, knowing that they both needed it after the past couple of days.

"You are not to go around on your own ever again. If you are ill, get someone to stay with you."

"Okay, dad."

The hug tightened and Harry let out a blissful smile. He had missed these little moments with his father. They sat in a peaceful silence next to each other until they were broken out of serenity by the twins' extravagant knock. Harry chuckled as his father's eye brow twitched with each stephe took towards the door.

"I do not recall giving you two detention."

"We are not here for detention..."

"… we are here to see you and little Harrikins!"

"Harrikins?"

"Why, yes! You see that little ginger-ish boy behind you..."

"… he is little Harrikins, our apprentice!"

"Why are you here Messers Weasley?"

"To interrupt the detention of course..."

"… Harrikins did ask to speak to us at seven."

"Did he now. Well, you must thank him for the detentions you have just received after all, you could have had a free evening to do what ever you freckled menaces do."

"But, we do so..."

"...love your company."

"In."

Fred and George high fived as they were let into the classroom. Snape looked questionably towards Harry, who had the most angelic look on his face. Not believing it for a second, he was just thankful that he was not the victim this time. Finally, he heard a knock and some bickering coming from the other side of the door, he cast _alohamora_ on it form his desk and beckoned the last two in before using his magic to slam the door shut.

"Who is the victim?"

Hermione squeaked when she heard this, obviously she had not been told that they were going to prank someone. Draco raised his eyebrow and stopped glaring at Hermione to see what information he had missed.

"The lemon drops."

Everyone turned to face Harry. He had probably not given any of them any details and had beckoned them here for a planning session instead of the detention he was supposed to be sitting. He raised an eyebrow and retook control form his child.

"Everyone will write ten inches, then, you may use the rest of the time to plan out this prank. Though, Harry is no longer aloud to be anywhere on his own as Dumbledore seemed to be the one to place the spells. There are now three sides at Hogwarts. Those oblivious, us and Dumbledore. Do not let yourselves get caught."

After giving the children time to soak in this information, he began to decide upon what lines each of the children should write. He was unhappy about having to bring even more children into this plight against the headmaster however, they knew that this would be for the best.

"Harry, you are writing 'I am to start using my brain and check things before I take them.' Hermione, you are writing, 'I am going to remember all the helpful facts to prevent going into shock.' Draco, you are writing, 'I will learn from others mistakes and shall not repeat them.' Fred and George, you are writing, 'I will not disrupt detentions because an eleven year old told me to meet him at seven. I will be giving these to your head of house."

Four groans and a smirk met him at his final comment after all, technically, Draco hadn't done anything wrong, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, he knows that they have probably done things recently that they hadn't been punished for so, he wasn't feeling any guilt. The grumbling children walked over to the desks and got started. After about thirty minutes, they had all finished and were busy plotting however, he did grimace at some of the handwriting. He quickly sent them off to McGonagall, excluding Draco, and left them too it.

"So, Harry, what is the plan?"

"Well, I'm quite fed up with Dumbledore trying to control what is going on so, I'm going to spike his lemon drops. The question is though, with what. I have several ideas however, I'm not supposed to know much about magic except for potions and stuff to do with healing so, I thought that if we used that stuff alongside Fred and George's stuff, they wouldn't be able to catch either of us as it wouldn't be in the usual style."

"So, why are Hermione and myself here?"

"To help, of course. We need potions, knowledge and inherent sneakiness. We also need chances to get it in there and look outs."

"What sort of things?"

"We need to actually be able to get up and to swap the lemon drops."

"Why don't you just get a house elf to swap them?"

"Draco, you are the only one here with house elves. Do you have one that could do that for us?"

"Sadly, I think I do… DOBBY!"

Everyone looked towards the elf that had just popped up in front of them, especially Harry and Hermione who hadn't seen or, couldn't remember ever seeing one in real life before. The creature that stood in front of them was a bent over creature with eyes as wide as dishes and pointy ears. It looked both cute and constantly shocked however, the thing that confused them the most was it's clothing. It was wearing a very torn pillowcase and didn't seem to have any shoes. Harry and Hermione were curious over this and whilst they were inspecting its feet, Harry recalled some information about house elves which he had been told long ago while Hermione looked ready to shred Draco to bits for his treatment of the elf.

"Herms, to give a house elf clothes is to free them from service. However, in freeing them, you are sentencing them to death. They need to be bound to family's as they live off of the family's magic and resources. To work gives them purpose."

"That's barbaric."

"I couldn't agree more but, it is how their race is forced to live."

"Is it a curse?"

"It is considered to be."

"Why does he look to be in such bad condition?"

"That I do not know… Draco, would you care to explain."

Draco looked shocked at his two friends, he didn't know why Dobby was in this condition, he just always was. He never thought to question it. He looked around for support from somebody but, they all seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"What do you mean by bad condition?"

"His clothing, the lack of shoes, posture and how emancipated he is."

"We can't give him clothes or shoes because we would free him and the other thing just seem to be normal."

"We know you can't give him clothes but, you can give him a uniform and you can create a timetable for him so, he has to eat."

"I hadn't thought of it like that… But, I can't really do anything, Dobby is my mother's elf, he just tends to help me a lot."

"Does your mother use him a lot?"

"I don't think so..."

"Do your other elves look like this?"

"No… I guess I hadn't really thought about it before, sorry, Dobby."

"Mister Malfoy bes apologising to Dobby? Mister Malfoys is too kind, too kind..."

"It's all right Dobby, we were wondering if you could do something for us, on a regular basis?"

"Yes!"

"You don't know what it is yet..."

"But yous be asking mes so Is be doing it."

"Okay, we are going to give you some lemon drops with a potion on and we want you to swap them for the headmaster's stash. This is a harmless joke and nobody will be in trouble for the consequences, okay?"

"Okay, Mister Malfoys, Dobby wills do it!"

"Okay, Dobby, I will call you when I need you to swap them."

With that Dobby popped out of the room, leaving a stunned audience behind. From the little elf's enthuasiasm, they could tell why Dobby would be perfect for the job. Severus sat at his desk with one eyebrow raised as the children plotted on the potions to use. Internally he was thinking, 'harmless, what a joke', he was once again reminded why he didn't really like children, excluding Harry and sometimes, Draco.


	25. Chapter 25

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief, he had been at Hogwarts for a month and during the past few weeks, he hadn't ended up in the hospital wing and he hadn't had any random personality changes. The lemon drops would finally be ready tomorrow night and their plan could begin. Excluding the first two exciting weeks, the rest of his Hogwarts experience had been quite peaceful, even though he had definitely broken his real father's detention record. Well the one for the first month of school anyway and he defiantly surpassed the rest of the Maruader's records, well the ones which mattered anyway. However, Snape, even though he was the one that gave and held most of them, was not pleased at his record and that was the reason for the 'advanced potions' session they were having now.

"Harry, even though I am pleased that you have had a quiet fortnight, try not to get so many detentions, you do not need to break the Marauders' records yet and if my squib persona gets one more letter from McGonagall, I am grounding you for one week during the holidays."

"But, you're the one who gives me the most detentions!"

"The key word being 'most'. What is getting you the other detentions? Your horrible language and sneaking out after curfew. I know the portrait may let you in at all hours but, keep your and your friend's mouths shut about your wandering at night."

"You know Hermione can't lie well."

"Teach her."

"Trust me I am trying… Maybe if you write down somewhere that it is homework for her, she will actually learn."

"It is tempting..."

Harry let out a chuckle and went back to brewing quietly. Around the time for curfew, Snape stopped him and told him to go straight back to his dorm. However, he was Harry Potter and he was not about to listen so, he went off exploring however, he was not expecting to run into Dumbledore. Inwardly, he was cursing at his stupidity, there was always a reason for warnings and now he had just found out why. Seeing that he hadn't been noticed yet, he quickly whipped out his invisibility cloak and tried to walk around the elderly annoyance.

"Good idea, my boy however, I had already seen you. It may be better if you hurry off to bed now and come to see me tomorrow in my office. The password is Sugar Quills."

Dumbledore walked off in the opposite direction chuckling. Harry was still cursing but, walked off to bed. His father was not going to be happy nor, were his friends. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was laughing, Harry had just made everything so much easier for him. He had been looking forward to catching to boy on one of his nightly wanders so that he could find out what was going on during his potion sessions. One thing he was not pleased with was Harry's prior knowledge of the wizarding world however, he was sure that he could find areas that he was not aware of and use them to the best of his abilities. As he finally entered his quarters, Harry had entered the common room and had headed straight up to bed, wanting to get some sleep before having to notify everyone about what had happened.

As if to symbolise how bad his day was going to be, Harry woke up late. Due to the first couple attempts at trying to wake him, his dorm mates had gotten the twins to cast a spell to make a loud noise, if he hadn't left his bed between six and seven thirty for more than thirty seconds. Hearing that it was now seven thirty from his comfy position on the floor, Harry rushed around to get ready for the day and ran down stairs to go to breakfast. Once he got there, he mustered the deadliest glare his eleven year old self could and sat down next to Hermione, who was reading. That was when Dumbledore came over, to tell him to meet him in his office after he had had his breakfast. It was if Severus' eyes were burning him after that comment. He sent the message, 'I got caught' to his father and sat down to explain to his friends what had happened.

"Harry James Potter, just what have you done now!"

"Herms, calm down-"

"Don't 'Herms, calm down' me, you said you wouldn't get caught."

"Herms, it's nothing bad-"

"Nothing bad? You were just called up to the headmaster's office!"

Seeing that this was going to go on for a while and that the attention of the whole hall had been captured by the hysteric eleven year old, Snape cast _silencio_ and put on his act.

"So, Potter, just what have you done that has commanded the attention of the whole hall?"

"I was called into the headmasters office or did you not hear."

"Another detention?"

"You might as well add one, everyone else is!"

"Don't be so disrespectful, Potter. Why have you been called into the headmaster's office? You have already gained the attention of the hall just as you sought to, I commend you on your performance Miss Granger."

"If you must know, I was caught outside of my dorm after curfew by the headmaster, I would not know of a reason that calls for everyone to know this. But, seeing as you do, why don't you tell me?"

"I will not have you speaking like this to me, detention for a week with me. Maybe scrubbing out cauldrons will knock you down some pegs instead of the infernal lines you have been littering people's offices with."

"Fine, see you tonight professor."

Harry, not being in the best mood, grabbed a piece of toast, bowed to Sanpe and left the Great Hall. The expression on Snape's face had been thunderous and he knew that he was going to be grounded when they went home in the holidays but at that point, he did not care. Harry stomped towards the headmaster's office, chewing ferociously on his slice of toast. As he turned the corner, he had a brain wave. As he was distracting the headmaster, Dobby could swap the lemon drops.

"DOBBY!"

"Mister Harry Potter calls Dobby?"

"Yes, it is time to swap the lemon drops over. Can you make yourself invisible while I distract the headmaster, he's called me in for a meeting."

"Of course, Mister Harry Potter, sir."

"Come on then, it's time to have some fun."


	26. Chapter 26

"Sugar Quills."

After uttering the idiotic password and hearing the snap of some fingers, Harry stepped onto the stairs and waited for them to take him to the top. Once he got there, he heard an annoyingly cheerful voice call out, "Come in, my boy." Mental vomiting aside, Harry opened the door, walked in and sat down in front of the headmaster, still half-asleep. The twinkling of Dumbledore's eyes was wearing on his already thin patience but, he thought to keep calm so that his Occulmancy shields would not fail. He refused to look directly into Dumbledore's eyes throughout the meeting, this did not go unnoticed.

"Good Morning, Harry."

"Good morning, sir."

"Could I offer you a lemon drop?"

"No thank you, Professor, I just finished my breakfast."

"Very well, now I guess you are wondering why I have called you up here?"

"Yes, I thought that you were going to take me to my head of house last night."

"Ah, so you knew the risks but, chose to continue anyway?"

"Not really, Hermione was telling me off over breakfast."

"Ah, Miss Granger, how do you know her?"

"She's my best friend's cousin. We grew up quite close to each other."

"Does your friend know about you and Miss Granger?"

"Yes-"

"We have laws about that, Harry."

"I know sir but, she and my best mate were as close as siblings and once he knew about her, he connected the dots especially when I gave the cover school, Hermione told him to tell people that she went to that school..."

"Well I suppose that is fine, after all he did come to the conclusion himself however, you should really be more careful, Harry."

Harry just stared at a spot above Dumbledore's head thinking about the stupidity of the statement he had just said. True, he had made quite a bit of that up however, there are only so many limited prompts you can give about Hogwarts and if you were as close as those three, he was going to connect the dots.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get a response, Dumbledore decided to change the conversation and ask about Harry's life, after all, he needed to know what things to change and what things to build upon, for the greater good, of course.

"So, how are things between you and Mr Weasley? Your friendship seems rather strained at the moment?"

"What do you mean, sir? We only really talk about Quidditch..."

"Ah, but isn't that what Mr Finnegan and Mr Lewis' friendship based upon?"

"Um… No, sir. They argue about which sport is better, Football or Quidditch, even though neither knows about the other."

"Which is your favourite?"

"I don't have one sir, but, they are my favourite of each world."

"A very diplomatic response, Harry. So, have you made friends in the other houses, I know it is often hard to but, it is very worthwhile."

"Yes, sir, I am friends with people from all the houses, we usually study together in the library so, we can help each other."

"What a wonderful thing to do, I hope to see that in one of my many wonders around the school."

Dumbledore was looking towards the boy in front of him. He was conflicted, Harry was quite confident and observant and his grades all seemed to be great, just what was expected of their saviour however, this Harry would not obey him blindly nor, would he believe that all Slytherin's were 'evil'. That had to change. Harry would become more meek and he would be more submissive therefore, he would obey his plans perfectly. HE would also place a bind on Harry to make him an average student but, able to access his normal magic in high adrenalin situations after all, it wouldn't do for the martyr to die before it was necessary, would it. The child before him started to look around his office, Dumbledore realised that he had been musing for a while and just when he was about to continue his interrogation, the bell rang.

"Ah, I seem to have gotten lost in my thoughts, I apologise."

"That's all right, Professor."

"Now I must ask you to not travel the hall ways after curfew but, I know that I shall be ignored so, just do not get caught. I will see you again, Harry. Hopefully we can continue this conversation."

"Okay, Professor. Bye."

Harry walked out of Dumbledore's office and down the stairs wondering what the purpose of that meeting really was. It seemed to be an enquiry into his life but, there was nothing that wasn't common knowledge between the first years anyway. As he continued to muse, he had made his way towards his dorm to go and get his books before hurrying to Transfiguration. Once he got into his dorm, he called Dobby to see how things had gone on his end.

"DOBBY!"

"Yes, Master Harry Potter Sirs."

"Were you able to swap the Lemon Drops over?"

"Yes, Dobbys did and Wrinkles did not notice Dobby!"

"That's great! Did you notice anything weird with the meeting while you were there?"

"No sirs. Dobby will goes-"

"That's all right, it wasn't your job to. Now I have to get to class so, thank you for everything Dobby and I will see you later."

"Master Harry Potter Sirs thanks Dobby?"

"Of course, you did an amazing job."

"Thanks you so much Harry Potter Sir!"

"It's all right, Dobby but, I've really have got to get to class!"

"I shalls pops you there if yous are ready."

"Really? Thank you, again, Dobby, that would be brilliant!"

After Dobby had popped Harry there, Harry had to spend the next five minutes calming the excited elf down so that he could actually enter the classroom. Already he was thinking of several ways to prank Draco in payment for not warning him more about Dobby's excited tendacies though, he really should of remembered himself… After finally getting into the classroom, McGonagall sent him an amused look and he knew that everyone had heard the conversation. He tiredly went and sat down next to Hermione, wanting to bang his head against the table. He heard someone laughing from across the classroom and settled them with a glare, Draco would definitely be getting retribution.

The rest of the day passed quite quickly for the first years, looking to be as uneventful as the last fortnight however, Harry Potter and normal are not two things that go together easily.


	27. Chapter 27

Acting as if nothing was wrong, Dumbledore made his usual walk up to the teachers table in the Great Hall for Dinner. He would not give the pranksters the assumption that they had bested him, even though he was unable to remove said effect due to the several different magics intertwining.

He could hear the laughs and gasps that accompanied his new look but, kept the benevolent, grandfatherly smile on his face as he walked towards the table to a glaring Snape who seemed amused and a shocked McGonagall. He shouldn't be surprised at these reaction. His eye brows had grown quite a lot and were stripped a garish orange and green, His beard was plaited into his hair in Pippy Longstockings plaits with bright pink bows on the end that simply would not come out. His moustache was now neon yellow and was twirled into a classic villains moustache to accompany his neon purple buck teeth and his abnormally large nose. And as if they hadn't done enough to his face, his nails kept on growing and were curled into ' I 3 G G' which were flashing through the colours of the rainbow.

"Albus, do you know what you look like?"

"Yes, and I must congratulate the prankers as I am unaware as to how they managed to accomplish this though, I would like them to come forward and undo it so I can feel how the magics work."

"Really, Albus. Just reverse it yourself."

"No, I would like to see what collection of wizards have come together to accomplish a task even the Maruaders did not attempt."

The stern looking woman facepalmed at the headmaster, wondering if the man was really turning senile like Severus speculated however, she quickly put those thoughts aside, thinking about the Maruaders and how the only son born from the group was sitting at her table, looking all too innocent. She tried to placate herself with the fact of his age but, then she caught the pleased faces of the twins and their quick glances towards the first years. Her peaceful facade fell as she saw Harry complete the exchange, she saw that many other teachers had caught the same thing as herself, including Dumbledore.

"Ah, Mister Potter, I think your exchange with your friends has given you away. Could you and Misters Weasley please remove the spell so that I can see the magics."

"What? I didn't do it! Just because I'm friends with the twins, you all think I had something to do with it! Why don't you just blame most of the school then as they have friends all across the school."

"Mister Potter, I think that I am right in my assumption as you have already exceeded your father's detention record, why not his pranking record as well?"

"Sir, why do you believe it was me? All I did was smile at the twins?"

"Come on my boy, you won't be in trouble for this prank, I just want to know how you did it."

"But, I didn't! You know what this is bullsh-"

At this point, Snape decided to step in, Merlin forbid Harry lands himself in a detention with Dumbledore, that was just asking for trouble. He stood up and strode over to the conflict sending silent glares at all those who were questioning him, he caught the perpetrators eyes and nodded slightly, forcing them to relax.

"Mister Potter, I thought you were trying to convince us that you were not as arrogant as your father and that you were your own person, or am I wrong?"

"Well, excu-"

"Do not interrupt and do not talk back. You see, nobody believes your innocent facade so, why don't you just admit it, the headmaster is already playing favourites and is vetoing a punishment. However, if you consider lying or swearing, I will not be as kind and you will be scrubbing the ceiling in the Potions classroom."

"With all due _respect_ , Professor. I did not pull this prank."

"Maybe you did not but, did you do it with others or did you manage to convince one of your little fan club members to do it for you?"

"I did no such thing! Why are you all blaming me!"

"Lies."

"Wha-"

"Detention."

"You can't."

"But I just did. A fortnight, Mr Potter."

And with that he left the room, his cloak billowing behind him. Once he got to his office, he collapsed in laughter, the headmaster had been a real sight! He pulled himself together and yet another of his son's detentions. Truly, if his son hadn't wanted detention, maybe he shouldn't have gotten caught sneaking a smile to the Weasley twins.

While, in the dining hall, Dumbledore saw this as an opportunity to make Harry dependent on him in the future, the anger was displayed quite thoroughly on the young child's face and he was determined to use this to get this child to obey him.

"I'm sorry my boy that Professor Snape is so convinced, I will see what I can do, after all, it was partially my fault."

"That's all right but, thank you anyway, sir."

"It's quite all right. Now, I shall let you get back to dinner however, I would like to see everyone involved afterwards."

"Thank you, sir, but, I doubt that anyone will come forwards especially as you're all just randomly accusing people. Enjoy your meal, Professor."

With that Harry turned back to his meal, already being admonished by Hermione for his disrespect to someone who had authorial power, even though she did admit that he was abusing it - it was the small victories that Harry believed in when Hermione went on a rampage. Dumbledore believed that she would be a good person to keep around Harry with her firm belief in authority and, with her status, she would be taught to follow him blindly throughout the years. However, Dumbledore was not privy to the actual words that were spoken within the conversation as there was no way that Hermione Granger would ever follow Dumbledore blindly.

"You should be more respectful, Harry. Thank Merlin that he chose the Great Hall to confront you… Can you imagine if he found you alone in a corridor? What if it had turned out like last time? What if you had actually lost your temper? You might have been killed, had your memory wiped, expelled! I-"

"Herms?"

"He's dangerous whether you and your father admit it or not."

"I know, Herms, and I promise to be more careful, if you promise too."

"Why do you want me to promise?"

"Don't play down on how observant you are."

"Okay, I promise."

"Good. We'll warn the others tomorrow; do you think they will be safe?"

"They should only you and the twins were suspected due to your audacity to smirk at them!"

"Okay, let's finish our meal and go. I'll wear my invisibility cloak to and from the dungeons tonight so he can't catch me again."

"Fine."

"Yes, it will be, won't it."

"Harry James Pott-"

"Yes, dear Herms?"

"You know what... no, I am just going to ignore you."

"What?"

Hermione her meal in relative peace, bringing Neville and Ron into conversations. This was mostly to annoy her pouting friend but, even though she was intent on ignoring Harry, the others weren't. Seeing his smirk, she smiled softly and they all continued the meal in relative harmony.

It was only once that Harry had gone to his detention that Hermione had begun to think over her and Harry's conversation at dinner, it was at that point that she realised that Harry had never promised her to be more careful. Half afraid and half angry at her friend, Hermione stomped off to bed with a few choice words swimming in her thoughts that were extremely unladylike.


	28. Chapter 28

"I was sure that we had already had a conversation in a detention about you getting less detentions and about not encountering Dumbledore on your own, care to explain to me how you managed to do the opposite of both?"

Snapes voice was soft and silky, Harry knew that he was in trouble. His adoptive father's voice only went this way when he was incredibly displeased with his actions. He knew that his father would never hit him but, that didn't stop him from being scared of what would happen next. The punishments were usually creative tasks and he had no illusions that he would be cleaning the potions ceiling, he just knew that that was not all to expect.

"No answer. How astute. Maybe you ignored my warning last night to go straight to your dormitory and you were caught by Dumbledore. How do I know? I asked the portraits what had happened and, as a head of house, they had to tell me."

Harry had known that he was going to be busted the moment that he saw Dumbledore but, he also knew that hid father was angrier that he had gotten himself caught rather than the actual act, after all what sort of Slytherin would his father be if he acted any different. As Harry's thoughts got off of track, his father's face began to settle into a deep scowl.

"Harry Potter, how is ignoring me going to lessen your punishment?"

All Harry could think of was the word 'shit'. As he repeated it further and further within his mind, one sleek, black eyebrow gradually rose and began to shake on his father's forehead.

"If you are going to swear repeatedly in your thoughts, try and occlude, I didn't teach you Occulmancy for nothing. You are going to be sleeping here until I see fit. You will go back to Gryffindor tower every night then, an hour after your curfew, you will be transported here by a trusted elf. You will sleep in your room and will be woken up and popped back to Gryffindor at six, where you will get ready for the day and come back here. You will then prepare ingredients for classes and you will be on time for breakfast. Then, when the Christmas holidays begin, you are grounded for both weeks with no flying and only one visit with Josh. If you do anything and I mean anything else, that visit will also be sacrificed. Do you understand?"

Harry silently nodded. He knew the punishment was going to be bad, but this was terrible. He knew better than to argue so, he kept his eyes fixed firmly on his shoes so that his father would not see the sadness in his face. As if sensing it anyway, Snape pulled Harry into a hug and gave him his task to do.

He spent the next forty minutes scrubbing the potion's ceiling, especially near Neville's seat. His hands were raw and red but, he refused to acknowledge this as he continued. When he was finally done, he lifted his eyes to meet his fathers and ran towards him to hug him. Shutting his eyes and basking in his father's presence, he felt a kiss brush against his forehead as he begun to relax.

"You know I only punish you because I worry about you."

"I know."

"Please be more careful, Harry."

"Funny, Hermione said the same thing earlier..."

"Did you redirect her like you just tried to do with me?"

"I don't think...I don't think that I could promise that..."

"Why, son?"

"I feel like something bad is going to happen..."

"Well, if you are more careful, it may not happen."

"Maybe..."

"Now, are you ready to go back to Gryffindor? You will be back in a little over an hour and I will see you then."

"Yeah..."

"Such a horrible abuse of the English language!"

"Only the best for you, dad."

With both father and son rejoiced, they temporarily separated.

When Harry entered the common room in his invisibility cloak, he walked straight up to his dorm, whipping his cloak off in the process. Once he finally got into his dorm, he had tucked his cloak into his pocket and he flopped onto his bed, face down, only to be laughed at by his dorm mates.

"Harry, mate, that's not how beds or sleep works!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, sorry to break it to you!"

"That's all right, Seamus but, this may have convinced me that Football is just that bit better..."

"You take that back, Potter"

"Naa."

This quickly brought the morale of the dorm up as the age old argument had just resurfaced. After a quick declaration of war and the quick resolution with a well placed pillow in Seamus' face. Neville asked the question that the others were much too afraid to ask the wand happy boy with the great aim.

"Har… Harry, why are you back so early and flopping on your bed?"

"The precious dungeon bat is bargaining with Dumbledore tomorrow to place a curfew spell on me so, I can't explore the castle when I can't sleep and he changed my detentions to the mornings so I have to be there at 6:30 so, I don't any more time away from Draco's advanced potions/advanced insults class after school, he seems to forget that I am in those classes to. It's like he gets off on ruining my day! Or... why didn't I think of this before... he must be part of the fan club he rants about! Maybe he's angry that I haven't noticed him! Poor, poor soul..."

Throughout his mini rant, the other boys had been wincing at the many things that were happening to Harry but, at the end, they were all in hysterics. Especially Ron, he saw the early mornings with Snape as a form of torture and then, having to go back after school… Ron was shaking his head sympathetically but, Neville, who had been entered into the smaller group of friends knew that this was something completely different and was probably a punishment for something. He shook his head then, after the laughing had died down, a sudden thought passed through his mind.

"Harry… Who's going to tell Hermione?"

"Well, seeing as I won't be here… I was hoping you would Neville! You have more tact than these three idiots put together. Well, I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast!"

With that he walked into the bathroom and quickly shut the door behind him, just in time to hear three pillows hit the door behind him. Laughing, he quickly showered and got ready to bed. He had just stuck his curtains shut, and sound proofed the curtains, in time for his father's chosen elf to pop him down to the dungeons.

"I see you are already ready for bed."

"Yep."

"Are you tired?"

"Nope."

"Yes, you are, come on, lets get you to bed."

Severus led his son through his quarters and into his bedroom. After tucking him in, he could see that Harry's eyes were drooping shut. He gave Harry a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead, his son could argue that he was too old for those but, both knew he didn't really mean it. Giving a soft smile to his son, he whispered to the seemingly sleeping boy.

"I'll see you in the morning, son."

"Night, dad."


	29. Chapter 29

Harry was woken in the morning by the usual smell of his father's coffee. The mix of sweet and bitter aromas reminded him of their home and, as he stumbled towards the living room within the quarters, he was met with a familiar sight. His father was sitting down in an arm chair, reading a book. He almost always found his father like this in the mornings, no matter what time he woke up. As he glanced at his father, he noticed the more natural look meaning the potion had not yet entered his hair which oddly had several new white hairs mixed in, he grimaced at himself being the cause of many of them. The casual clothes of his father relaxed him and gave him comfort, one he hadn't witnessed recently.

"Observing the amount of white hairs you have caused me to gain, sorry but, they are not all your fault, for once."

"Morning."

"Morning. An elf will pop you back to your dorm, after you have a drink of water, for you to get ready and do the walk back here."

"'Kay. Why the water though?"

"So, you may wake up a bit and preferably not fall down the stairs. Do not forget to wear your invisibility cloak."

"'Kay. Sure."

After Snape was happy that his son was awake enough, he sent him back via elf to his bed and begun to get ready for the day. As he donned his usual black robes and put the flame retardant potion in his hair, his son was already on his way back, looking as if he had been dragged through a bush backward. Hair and robes askew, Harry entered his classroom and smiled at his father. Giving a long suffering sigh, Snape flicked his wand and corrected his son's clothes much to the latter's surprise and realisation. Feeling the urge to indulge in gestures like the facepalm, he led his son over to a work bench and got him to wash ingredients before letting him cut them up.

At seven-thirty, he deemed his son done for the morning and sent him to get himself breakfast. He, himself, used the secret passages to get there first and secure himself his usual spot away from Dumbledore, also, to enjoy the look of shock on his sons face at his early appearance to breakfast. The silly child thought that he had found the quickest route to the dining hall, of course, Severus knew that he was wrong and by the look on his sons face, he knew that it had been worth it. His son came in, sat down, began to eat and then realised and stared at his father. It was when he saw a flicker of determination in Harry's eyes that Severus began to regret his idea. He was soon saved by the entrance of his son's friends.

"Harry James Potter! I want that promise here and now."

"What promise Hermione?"

"You know what promise!"

"I do but, I am not sure if it is a promise that I can keep, given everything that has already happened."

"At least promise that you will try!"

"Okay, Herms. I promise that I will try to stay safe."

"Thank you… Now what is this about morning detentions, there is no mentions of them in 'Hogwarts: A History'."

"I'm pretty sure that Professor Snape invented them especially for me after all, he is fed up with my arrogance taking time away from his godson's advanced potion's lessons therefore, it is detentions in the mornings and lessons after school."

"I must admit that that is efficient… but, can you meet me in the Common Room afterwards."

"Of course I can."

Their conversation had gotten quieter and quieter until the last two sentences were not more than a whisper. Harry knew that although Harry and Hermione had made friends together, Hermione was anxious of talking to people without Harry's assuring back up, a sad result of being a brainy child in Hermione's primary school. Giving her hand a squeeze they both returned to their meals in a much happier mood, only to be improved when Dumbledore walked in. Turns out that the old goat was unaware that his precious lemon drops were the cause of his discomfort. Luckily, these effects should continue for the next week, dependant on if Dobby had added more or not.

Classes were resumed and talks of theory quizzes were already being spread round by the teachers much to the fear of many students, especially those in Gryffindor for Snape's quizzes. Revision became more frantic from many of the other students so, when the first years joined together in their frees, several factions were formed on how hard they should revise for the upcoming tests. This pitted Hermione, Daphne and a few of the Ravenclaws against all the others but, especially Ron and Shamus who saw no real reason to do any special revision yet. However, once tension was resolved, the revision resumed though this may have been due to a smart comment from Draco, who had basically said, "This arguing is taking up a lot of valuable time, if you Gryffindorks don't want to revise, kindly leave." Hermione's absolute repulsion at the idea had Harry trying not to laugh as he pulled out a textbook.

The week was arguably unremarkable. He had seen Dumbledore attempt to find him in the hall ways several times and had used this to find more secrets within Hogwarts. The amount of time he was now spending with his father had decreased Snape's worry as there were less chances for Harry to get into trouble. However, as the week carried on, Harry couldn't help but feel that it was the calm before the storm and he was right. On the 18th of October, Harry was summoned into Dumbledore's office to talk. What about? Harry had no idea but, he knew, that his father was not going to like this.

"Ah, Harry, my boy. It is good to see you, thank you for arriving so promptly. I guess that you are wondering why I have called you here today?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I called you here today to talk about your first Quidditch game, I understand that you were sent a broom?"

"Yes, sir."

"May I enquire as to which one?"

"My father managed to get me a Nimbus 2000. I've trained with it so much! I couldn't believe that he was able to get me one! I was hoping he would but, I thought that it would be too much! But, it is just awesome!"

"Ah, the joys of being young and flying… However, is money a problem for your 'father'?"

"Not really… I just thought that he would get a cheaper one with how accident prone I am!"

"Ah, yes, your first two weeks at Hogwarts were rather eventful. Now, as you probably know, your first match is the 30th October and it is against Slytherin. Could you please tell Mr Wood that Madam Hooch will be refereeing the match."

"Of course, Professor… Can I ask a question?"

"Of course. What is it Harry?"

"Why did you try to talk to me when I was younger? My teachers believed you to be a paedophile."

"While that is worrying, I was merely making sure that you were happy and safe. I wanted to know that you were happy and that you were growing up safely. I must say that your 'father' has some really good wards on your house, there seemed to be a high powered wizard repelling ward in the area. I am curious about how you and Miss Granger met as this ward was up."

"My father got her keyed into the wards, I questioned why but, he never gave me a straight answer… He seems to have a sort of sensitivity to magical people."

"Well that is unusual but, most fortunate. You have really helped Miss Granger gain confidence."

"Thank you, I guess…"

"Any other questions?"

"Why do you call me Harry but, everyone else by their surnames?"

"What I told you when you were younger was true. I am your great uncle or, I was considered to be. I had quite a close relationship with your parents. I will tell you more about them another day however, I believe you have about an hour until your advanced lesson with Professor Snape so, I shall let you go now."

"Thank you, sir. Goodbye."

Harry walked quickly out of the office, keeping his eyes diverted from Dumbledore's the whole time though he could feel the heavy prods that were attacking his mental defences. In the end, he got back to his dorm and prepared himself for the verbal confrontation from Severus Snape.

Luckily, his father chose for this to take place after his father's elf had collected him from his dorm.


	30. Chapter 30

"What did _he_ want this time?"

"He wanted to talk about Quidditch."

"And is that all you talked about?"

"No. I felt like he thought I was naive enough so I asked him about his stalking from when I was younger and about why he calls me by his first name."

"That was dangerous."

"But, it taught me what sort of person he was going to play so, I can act against it better. He is going for family friend who was close enough to be a member while, nearly breaking my mental shields."

"WHAT?"

"He was close to breaking my shields."

"How?"

"I don't know but, he was doing really heavy prods."

"Where were his hands?"

"Under the table. I think he was holding his wand under there as none of the portraits were saying anything about it, neither was Fawkes… come to think of it, I don't think Fawkes was actually there..."

"Fawkes was absent… That does not say a great deal of good for the future..."

"I am aware, dad."

"You need to be more careful with everything now. Did he say that he would be meeting with you again to do anything?"

"He said he would chat with me about my parents."

"Whatever he says, come back and ask me about it and I will tell you the truth of the matter."

"I know."

"Right, it's time for you to go to sleep."

"Why?"

"Your answers are becoming shorter showing that you are tired. Come on, I will tuck you in but, don't think that we won't be talking more about this in the morning."

After tucking his son in, Snape smoothed his shaggy, dark auburn hair down and patted his son on the shoulder before falling into his favourite arm chair with a tumbler of gin in his hand. Raising a weary hand to his face, he recalled his son's thoughts about it being the calm before the storm and couldn't help but agree. Dumbledore was upping his contact with Harry and due to his powers as the Headmaster, he could call Harry up to his office at any time, for anything, and that scared him. This boy who he loved and was his son could be taken away in an instance and that was the instance where all his reassurances to himself collapsed. In his state of upset, Severus Snape flooed for a drinking partner.

"Poppy?"

"Severus?"

"You got any patients at the moment?"

"Surprisingly enough, no. Why do you ask?"

"Care to be my drinking partner again? We may not get another opportunity..."

"Severus..."

"Poppy, please. I have your favourite and it would just be a waste if I drank it..."

"Stupid Slytherin… I'm coming through. Just let me set up an alarm..."

"Thank you."

As Poppy stepped through, she took in Severus Snape's appearance for herself. Without the put upon personna, he really was quite the handsome young man, she hoped that he would find someone soon but, she knew that there was no person he would willingly commit himself to without reason. Then she saw his eyes; sorrow.

"So, what are we drinking to forget?"

"Danger."

"What danger?"

"This school and what it does to its pupils."

"What do you mean? Hogwarts gives students a home, a hope."

"That it does but, when you are sent home, where is your hope then. When this place changes you as a person, do you really have a true home?"

"What has brought this on?"

"The problems of Harry Potter."

"Plural? So, you don't really blame the boy."

"I never have."

"Do you promise me that?"

"Always."

"Well then, lets drown our sorrows before going back to our prim and proper roles tomorrow."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Harry woke up to the sound of a charmed alarm. Realising this, he lifted an eyebrow in question and wandered into the living room to find his father and the school's mediwitch passed out and quite visibly drunk. He chuckled to himself, they were going to have one hell of a hangover, then he remembered, he had potions today… Gryffindor had potions today. He had to warn them… After storing the memory away of the two drunk teachers. Harry had a drink of water and grabbed two hangover potions, rolling his eyes at the number of them in his kitchen (he knew his father drank when he was extremely upset or conflicted but, the number of them was slightly dramatic), he then gently jostled his father awake, handing him a potion. After the grimace at the taste, Harry gave him a small smile and asked a house elf to take him back to his bed in Gryffindor.

He purposefully turned up late to his 'detention', gleaning sympathetic looks from those who were actually awake, and was pleased to see that his father was more awake and had his customary cup of coffee in his hand. Knowing conversation may be scarce if he spoke normally, he spoke in a low volume but, he kept the small ribbing tone in his voice.

"So, the school's mediwitch is your drinking partner."

"Who better?"

"True. What upset you so much?"

"You know you felt that something bad was going to happen?"

"Hmm..."

"I agree."

"What!"

"Harry, please."

"Sorry."

"All the reassurances I gave to myself about you being at Hogwarts have been destroyed in the past six weeks and given your normal track record, it has been too calm."

"What reassurances?"

"That I could protect you, that I could somehow overpower the headmaster, that your occulmancy shields would hold-"

"All those things are happening."

"But for how long."

"Long enough. I thought that Slytherin's were sneaky, devious and survivors."

"They are deemed to be."

"Well, we can survive. We have proven this with the past ten years."

"But, I have had to force you to grow up much quicker than you should."

"And that seems to be a good thing as you are acting like an insecure teenage girl right now."

"I apologise."

"Don't."

"Why?"

"You shouldn't have to. Hogwarts shouldn't make you act like this. Hogwarts is supposed to be a home away from home, not Dumbledore's playground. He shouldn't make you feel like this. He shouldn't..."

"Harry, come here. We seem to both be very emotional this morning-"

"With good reason."

"I want to say that I am proud of you for everything you have done and for acting your age for once."

"You're saying this like you are going to leave me."

"I will never leave you. I promise that I will look out for you."

"Always?"

"Always."

"Good. Now, we need to act more like us and less like an emotional Lavender."

"Lavender?"

"One of the Gryffindor girls, dad! Hermione gets frustrated at her so often for interrupting her study time with her 'incessant exaggerating'. It's quite amusing, she uses quite a few of your phrases."

"I'm pleased."

"I thought you would be."

"Let's brew a potion to calm down then, we can go to breakfast. I may even show you a new hide away for putting up with me in a 'Lavender' state."

"Okay, deal."

With a determined nod of his head, Harry got up and looked expectantly at Severus. After a throaty chuckle, Severus rose and walked into the potions classroom, casting a recipe onto the board and setting up his classroom for the day. The image would trick anyone who would be walking past, a student and teacher frowning over their individual potions but, those who knew them as individuals, knew better and would smile at this image of father and son.


	31. Chapter 31

_Italics_ = singular twin, **bold** = twins together.

* * *

After finding the hide away that his father had given him 'clues' about, he memorised it and searched it to see if any secret passages stemmed off of it. He found something that looked suspicious but, as it was coming up to being the time that he met Hermione, he unhappily left the alcove and walked towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

When he arrived, he put his invisibility cloak on to see if he could surprise one of his friends, only to be pushed into a corner and somewhat ushered up the stairs by the Weasley twins. When they smirked to each other, he knew that they knew that he was there. They pulled off his cloak, ruffling his hair even more than normal. As he tried in vain to flatten it, he was deciding how to question and/or retaliate towards the twins after all, there was nothing like a good prank war to relieve stress.

"So, how did you know that I was there?"

" _We have this wonderful-"_

" _-Magical piece of parchment that-"_

" _-tells us where someone is-"_

" _And where they are-"_

"And how did you get something of this calibre?"

" _Poor old Filchey-"_

" _-He really shouldn't leave the confiscated draw unlocked."_

"Why are you telling me about this, you already knew about my invisibility cloak?"

" _Yes, why were we telling him, Gred?"_

" _I am not sure, Forge… maybe-"_

" **Because we saw you go outside of the lines meaning you found more secret passages**."

"And if I did?"

" _We would like to add it onto the map-"_

" _-To help all future generations of pranksters!"_

"What a noble cause, of course I will help. May I see the map."

" _Of course dear prankster-"_

" _-_ _However you will need to unlock it..."_

"Okay, aparecium."

Elsewhere in the castle, McGonagall shivered. She felt a sense of dread come over her that last occurred in the era of the Marauders. She prayed to Merlin that it wasn't what she thought it was. She took a pepper up potion, thinking that she would need it within the course of the day and went about her business, feeling a peculiar tingling in the pit of her stomach. Putting it off, thinking that it was a nervousness in relation to the sense she had earlier, she went about her day.

Three pairs of eyes were staring at a piece of parchment that was seemingly coming alive. The twins were eager to see how it would greet their newest friend, knowing that he would be the one that they would eventually pass this down to. Harry was staring at the paper, wondering what was going to happen next, it would be something good by the looks on the twins' faces.

Messers Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

are glad to see that their heritage is being passed on properly.

Mr Mooney would like to present his compliments to Prongslet on finding the map

but, would like him to solemnly swear to use it properly.

Mr Padfoot would like to remind Mr Mooney that the only proper way is no good way

and would love to see the Prongslet again.

Mr Prongs agrees with both Messrs Mooney and Padfoot about whatever his Prongslet is up to

and regrets that he can't see the results.

Mr Wormtail bids Prongslet to use his intelligence unlike his self and his friends.

" _Well, that was unusual but-"_

" _You don't really do normal, do you Harry?_ "

"Prongslet… that sounds really familiar..."

" _At least we are sure-"_

" _on who to pass this on to-"_

" _Could you imagine if we gave it to Ron-"_

" _Or Ginny..."_

" _So, Prongslet, son of Prongs-"_

" _Do you know how to open the map?"_

"Um… so I am to use my intelligence… right… some phrases stick out like 'solemnly swear' and 'no good'… they all tell me to do something so the other one may be 'up to'… so that can be… I SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I AM UP TO NO GOOD!"

" _Definitely the right person, Forge."_

" _I completely agree, Gred."_

Messrs Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

are proud to present

The Marauders' Map.

The piece of paper opened up in front of him showing the school and everyone in it. The possibilities were endless and when the new areas were added on, this would be the ultimate tool for the pranksters. The things they could do and people wouldn't even realise however, it made him conflicted. There was no way that he was going to his dad about this but, he felt bad keeping secrets also, he knew how the Maruaders had tormented him and they had obviously used this but, on the other hand, this was something from his birth father and his honorary uncles, there was no way that he was going to give this up. That was until he saw a certain name in Professor Quirrel's office, 'Tom Marvollo Riddle', or more commonly known as, 'Lord Voldemort'.

"Guys, there is no way I am going to give this to a teacher but, I need you to make me take a vow of secrecy on the past ten and next five minutes."

" _That seems rather extreme-_ "

" _So, why the vow._ "

"There is a name on that map of a person who should not be here whatsoever."

" _Which one-"_

" _Peter Pettigrew?"_

"Wait, what! Peter Pettigrew is in Hogwarts as well?"

" _Was that not the name you saw?"_

" _What other person should not be here?"_

"Tom Riddle or otherwise known as 'Lord Voldemort'. He seems to be on top of Quirrel… It would explain why my head used to always hurt when he turned around… That's why I need the vow of secrecy. We need to keep this away from the teachers and if I can't speak about it, I can't give it away. Also, if you see Peter Pettigrew, bring that bastard to me."

" _Bastard? Peter Pettigrew?"_

" _Shouldn't that be reserved for Black?"_

"You mean the man who I have a sacred godfather bond with, the man who is currently in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, the man who didn't get a trial?"

" _The bond would mean-"_

" _That he couldn't harm-"_

" _You or your family-"_

" _In anyway…"_

" _How was this overlooked?"_

" _Did Pettigrew betray your parents?"_

"They wanted a quick trial to get the war over and done with probably and yes, yes he did. He sold us out to Voldemort because he thought that Voldemort was going to win, then he ran and faked his death, getting Sirius locked up… Though that hasn't stopped him from sending me birthday presents…."

" _Do you know who-"_

" _Each of the Marauders are?"_

"Yep! Prongs was my dad, Padfoot was Sirius Black, Mooney was Remus Lupin and Wormtail was Pettigrew."

" _We bow to your supreme knowledge-"_

" _Prongslet, son of Prongs."_

"Why, thank you! Now, I need to take that oath and after everything is sorted, we can come back and add the places on and I will tell you about the supposed initiation they each did. Which I completed last summer, mostly using the last bit of my wish magic."

" _Enlighten us, oh mighty Prongslet-"_

" _What is this so-called wish magic?"_

"It's basically accidental magic but, I call it wish magic as you want a reaction so much."

" _But-"_

" _How can you run out?"_

"You don't really. We just learn how to use our magic through intent."

" **Intersting...** "

"Oath!"

" **Oh yeah!"**

" _Do you, Harry James Potter, swear on your magic-"_

" _-to keep the past fifteen and the next five minutes secret-"_

" _Unless you need to expose the information to save a life-"_

" _Or that you feel that it is in the best interest of the whole party."_

" **On this do you swear?** "

"I solemnly swear to uphold this secrecy unless in the situations stated. On this, I swear my magic."

" _It is done, young one-"_

" _Now go and play hero."_

After casting a long suffering look to the twins, he threw on his invisibility cloak and ran back to his father's rooms weaving in and out of the students. In his desperation he missed the headmaster watching him and talking to the portraits that had heard in the Gryffindor Common Room. Just as he was running down to the dungeons, Harry turned down an empty hall way and that was his undoing... Dumbledore needed him to go through his tests and by telling a teacher about Quirrel's possession and Pettigrew, his careful plans would be undone. He whipped out his wand and fired an 'obliviate' at the magic aura that was getting further and further from him. When it hit, the memory of the past hour left him and the boy stopped where he was to gather his bearings then, carried on down to the dungeons for his 'morning detention'. Dumbledore walked off in the opposite direction, quite pleased with himself.


	32. Chapter 32

Italics = singular twin, bold = both twins

* * *

"Did you tell him then?"

"Tell who what?"

"Snape-"

"Severus Snape!"

"I really don't know what you are talking about… All I remember to do with Snape was going down to do the detention but, he told me that I had already done it. He then sent me to the hospital wing but, I didn't go."

"So you can't remember-"

"What you were going to see Snape about?"

"The map?"

"The people?"

"The magic swear forced?"

"The Marauders?"

"No. But, it all seems familiar… I asked Hermione about it but, she was a bit angry, bit concerned about me being late to meet her. I've spent the whole day wondering why while getting strange looks from everyone… Just like the ones you are giving me now."

"Harry, think back to this morning?"

"Prongslet or fog?"

"It's kinda foggy but, Prongslet sounds really familiar."

"You've already said that today-"

"You said it tomorrow when you were talking to us..."

"We're taking you to Snape."

"Why?"

"We think we might-"

"Know what is going on."

"Okay. Let's finish dinner first or the teachers will think it is weird, plus, I don't think McGonagall wants more white hairs, yet, anyway."

The twins nodded yes but kept a close eye on the younger boy. The strong front he was putting on was doing nothing to hide the fear in his expressive eyes and the tell tale awkwardness shown through the near constant pressing down of the fringe over the scar. Once all three were done, the twins sandwiched Harry in-between them and escorted him down to Snape's room, looking as if they were entertaining him or, taking him on a little tour. McGonagall's worst fears that they had some sort of friendship were proven true as she saw them leave together.

As the twins marched Harry out of the hall, Severus knew that something was wrong. He quickly excused himself under the guise of having a potion in stasis that could not be left for long however, the teachers believed that it was to go and protect his lab from any perceived attacks. He used the quickest route he could think of that would lead him to his classroom before the twins and Harry and cleared the room so they could have a serious chat.

On the way to the dungeons, the twins had kept a faint eye for any recognition of the new places within Hogwarts. At several locations, they saw his eye brows furrow together as if trying to remember something when, at the bottom of the stairs into the dungeons, Harry stopped and felt the wall for something. After regarding him for several moments, they stepped over to help and they eventually found it. It was a small alcove that had been hidden, something extremely useful for hiding themselves or some of their stock in.

"Did you recognise this place-"

"Or feel something familiar?"

"I don't know, I just felt that there was something there… like a subconscious thought."

"It might have been a time boundary one-"

"And this might of happened at one end-"

"It would explain the feeling-"

"And the location."

"Right, time to see Snapey-poo."

"Please never say that again..."

"No can do, Prongslet."

"Actually, I'm more of a cross between a grimm and a wolf apparently, nothing like my father at all."

"What?"

"I don't actually know... or, remember..."

With that, they continued down the hall towards Snape's classroom. They knocked on the door and waited to be beckoned into the bat's lair. Each dreading the next conversation.

"Come in… I thought you would escort my wayward son here. Can you tell me what has happened now? It isn't Dumbledore again?"

"It might be-"

"but, we are unsure."

"All we know is that Harry was coming here to tell you something important-"

"But, he suddenly forgot most of the morning on the way here."

"Although he remembered something about our conversation-"

"And about a hidden alcove down the hall-"

"So we think that-"

"Someone used a-"

"Time-scaled obliviate on him."

"That would explain this morning. Harry, what was the last thing you could remember from this morning?"

"I was walking either to or from our detention, I wasn't sure which but, I was facing the dungeons so I thought I was going there, that's why I came here. Then throughout the day I kept on thinking about the nickname 'Prongslet' and- mmph"

"Harry forced us to hold him to a magical swear-"

"We shouldn't let him continue any further-"

"Though while he swore-"

"We did not."

"Though a clause was-"

"If it is in the interest of both parties-"

"Which this definitely is."

Snape nodded and gesture for the twins to elaborate. Whatever they had told or shown his son must have been pretty important for him to make a magical promise but, why make the promise before coming to see him. It couldn't be for the best interest of the opposite party as the opposite party was before him… So he questioned the twins, mercilessly.

"What would deem the need of a time scale obliviate?"

"Honestly-"

"We aren't sure."

"What were you discussing this morning with Harry? He was on his way back from his morning detention with me?"

"We showed him an heirloom that occasionally appears to us, it shows everyone-"

"Where they are and what they are doing-"

"At that time and-"

"It always tells the truth."

"Why would this mean that he would be coming to me?"

"Peter Pettigrew-"

"and Tom Riddle."

"Where and how do you know about those names?"

"Harry saw them on the map this morning and was on his way to tell you about them."

"Pettigrew seems to be in the Gryffindor tower quite a lot-"

"and Riddle is on top of Quirrel."

"Can you all try to capture Pettigrew while you are in the tower, he may be in his animagus form - which is a rat. I will handle Riddle. He seems to be possessing Quirrel as I expected, keep your heads down and do not attract his attention."

"Okay."

"Harry, would you like to promise to keep out of his way as well?"

"Um... sure."

"Why can I sense a 'but' coming?"

"Well, if he really is Riddle, he's not going to leave me alone, is he? He wants to get the job done. And, Dumbledork will try and encourage me to somehow battle him."

"I know you are going to hate this but, never go anywhere alone again. I will change the potions lessons with Draco to the morning then, you will be in detention with the other Gryffindor's after school. Just try to stay out of his way, Harry."

"Okay, Sev. See you later."

As Harry left his classroom, Severus sighed, he knew that it would be hard once Harry came to Hogwarts but, he had never had a year quite this adventurous! He now had a godson to tell that his lay ins were over... he could see it going down badly.

And he was right.

"Sev, but why?"

"Because your lessons need to continue and Dumbledore is casting on the students."

"Oh, but seven?"

"Do you want breakfast?"

"I would eat an apple on the way to my first lesson."

"No, you will not. You will have a nutritional breakfast and you will do as I say or, I will call your mother."

"Sev! That's so unfair."

"But, it works. Now, will you comply with what I have asked or, do I have to call your mother in?"

"Fine, but I will not be gracious."

"Brat... Go tell Harry and decide somewhere to meet tomorrow."

"Okay, Sev. See you tomorrow before the sun rises."

Severus shook his head at the dramatics as he shooed his godson out of the dungeon. If he didn't have a serious reason for having the two boys turn up early, he would have believed that himself to be turning senile, much like the goat that was at the top, and the only person, on his hit list.

After a quick meeting between the two boys, they decided on meeting at the top of the dungeon stairs at 6:55, much to Draco's displeasure.


	33. Chapter 33

_Italics – singular twin._ **Bold – both twins**

* * *

The week soon began to pass and even though Draco was a laughable mess on the first morning, he did feel benefits of getting up earlier. However, he would never admit that to his godfather or godbrother. If a Gryffindor was up in the morning by the time that Harry was popped back to the dormitory to walk back to the potions classroom, they gave him sympathetic looks, even Neville did even though he knew what was going on. However, as with Harry's usual luck, something always happened around Halloween. It was the evening of Friday the 27th and he was dreading the next Tuesday because if being at Hogwarts proved anything, it was that Harry's bad luck all but tripled.

He wasn't the only one worrying about Halloween, back in the Gryffindor common room, there was currently a group surrounding the fireplace made up of several first years and the Weasley twins, many saw the group and whitened but, their curiosity grew. However, when they got closer, all they could hear were hypothetical scenarios and ways to prevent them which left many spectacularly disappointed.

" _Hermione you're going to have to-"_

" _Tell us more about Harry's Halloween luck."_

" _Hmm…_ Just thinking about where to start… I don't really know much about it, we would have to ask his dad but, I know that Josh told me that once Harry sneezed when they were about six and he vanished. It turns out he had apparated to the roof of the school and he couldn't get down. He was in a short sleeve top and shorts from gym and every time someone tried to get him, the ladder would break. They had to call for the fire department in the end but, they went to the wrong school. They tried to phone his dad but, the telephone line was being changed. In the end, when his dad went to collect Harry he had a bad cold and had learnt several new words."

"You had to go straight to number three, didn't you Hermione?"

"Number three?"

"I've ranked the Halloweens that I have experienced on a scale. One being the worst."

" _No need to ask number one but-"_

" _Whatever is number two?"_

Harry grew pale and looked off into the distance, looking as if to be remembering extreme emotional pain. He muttered, "You don't want to know." quietly, and the others decided to both respect his privacy and find out from Snape later.

"So, guys, what scenarios could happen?"

" _Get stuck in the third floor corridor-"_

"Been there, done that."

" _Trapped between Filch, Peeves and Dumbledore while playing_ _the prank."_

"Invisibility cloak and you guys have the map."

" _Potions explosion and hospital wing."_

"Why would the lovely lady, Pomfrey be a problem? My dad's got that covered."

" _A meeting with Dumbledore."_

"I should get a note beforehand that one of you guys can pass on and I will stay in sight of someone else at all times."

" _The staircases moving while you are stepping over them."_

"Surely they have a protection for that sort of thing."

" _Fluffy getting loose?"_

"He named it Fluffy? Well… I doubt that is going to happen."

The twins and Harry continued this questioning with the occasional input from Hermione and Neville until it became a house-wide thing. All Gryffindors were questioning the boy after the news of the Halloween that Hermione had talked about, as it was only to a small group, it was only natural that the rest of the house knows and probably some of the other houses. The dangers and Harry's answers were becoming more ridiculous as time went on. It was finally ended after,

"What if Snape gets down on one knee and confesses his undying love for you while dressed in McGonagall's nightie?"

"Totally have an all out student-teacher relationship – have you seen how much that man tries to get my attention! However, that is forbidden... Though I would tell him that his fashion sense is abysmal, I mean going from dungeon bat to scottish granny, let's just call the goddamn fashion police and be done with it!"

Most were cracking up at the eleven year olds answer however, several had ashen faces. Harry didn't even want to turn around, he knew that someone was there now as the room had gone silent. He looked to Hermione and tried to weedle out some information but, she was just staring past him at the teacher who was behind him. He knew it was woman he had just talked about being in her night dress and called a granny.

"Hermione, what's the time?"

"Mr Potter, do not try to fake ignorance, it is unbecoming. I came here to stop the roudiness that the portraits are complaining of. Now may I ask what exactly are you doing and why aren't you in your detention?"

"Trying to defeat the bad Potter luck but, apparently fate did not appreciate my efforts."

"Do not sass me, Potter."

At the word 'sass'. Harry lost it. He couldn't help it. He just had never heard the stern woman say anything like that before. He knew he was just getting himself into more trouble but, he couldn't find it within himself to care, he was tired and worried and a grown woman calling him out for 'sass' just undid his sanity. Eyes all turned to him as he began laughing, the teacher in front of him was not amused.

"Why don't we go talk to Professor Snape and see how he takes your approval of a relationship, he might even take up more of your time however, maybe you would like to spend that time with Filch or Hagrid in the forbidden forest after all, student-teacher realtionships are a bug no-no, Mr Potter."

If Harry hadn't been so petrified of the upcoming conversation, he would be fighting a smile about the word 'no-no'. As soon as McGonagall turned around to leave the room, he could feel the pitying stares making him feel as if he was walking towards his death.

The three minute walk was completely silent except for the clicking of McGonagall's heels slicing the calm sound ferociously. He had no idea what had made her so mad but, he wasn't going to be the one to ask, especially with the trouble he seems to be in. The livid woman strode up to Snape's office, parting the corridor with her anger. The pitying stares continued as the door opened to an angry Professor Snape.

"In. Now."

Harry scuttled in, wishing to be anywhere else right now. Something seemed to have the teachers in a mood and he knew that this conversation would lead him to be grounded for the winter holidays.

"Care to tell me why you are thirty minutes late to your detention? No? Professor McGonagall, if you would."

"After our lovely staff meeting, I received numerous complaints from portraits about my Gryffindor's being so loud that people can hear them on the staircases. There were actually people outside of the portrait listening in and laughing. After finally getting rid of them, I entered to this boy answering how he would escape ridiculous dangers at the top of his lungs, ignoring the time completely. I must admit that the last one has really set my nerves on edge due to the clear lack of respect my students seem to have for their students."

"What was the last one and how did the insolent boy answer it?"

"Why don't you answer the question Harry?"

Harry honestly felt so attacked right now. He didn't think that what he had done deserved this type of punishment and the betrayal that lined his eyes told them so. Snape noticed the look and looked directly into his eyes, broadcasting reassuring vibes with the manipulation of his legimancy and occulmancy. Harry noted the feelings, looked down to the floor and retold the last one.

"Someone said 'what if Snape got down on one knee and confessed his undying love for you dressed in McGonagall's nightie?'"

Severus' eyebrow twitched at the implications and looked steadily at his son.

"Your answer."

"I would accept due to-"

"Please carry on, we haven't got all day."

"Well, I made a joke eabout the number of detentions I have with you saying that you must desire my time..."

"And."

"That um… youhavebadfashionsenseifyougofrombattogranny."

"Slower."

"You have bad fashion sense if you go from bat to granny."

"Is that all?"

"And that we should phone the fashion police about you."

"I see. Well congratulations on gaining more detentions however, maybe you should have some with other teachers as well, after all I must prove my lack of love for you somehow. Who do you suggest Professor McGonagall?"

"I think Hagrid is going into the Forbidden Forest soon."

"Have a nice trip, Potter. Now, if you are done wasting everybody's time, maybe you can start scrubbing in the classroom. There was a rather unfortunate accident with a second year who cannot seem to control his ego."

Harry squared his shoulders and walked into the classroom angrily. Angry at the injustice and lack of answers that he had about the teacher's temprement. The moment his adoptive father walked through the door, Harry glared at him steadily demanding answers until he received a sigh and a hand gesture over to him.

"I'm guessing you want to know what has us all angry?"

"Yes, that unfair persecution the minute after a staff meeting does leave me with a few questions."

"I'll answer yours if you tell me everything which happened in that common room and with McGonagall."

"Fine. Me and my friends were talking about my bad luck and purposing escape strategies. As they started to get more ridiculous, it became a game of sorts between the whole house. I wasn't facing the door and neither was the person who questioned me. I gave my answer and noticed everyone going still and staring behind me, I knew who was there and who I had called a granny with no fashion sense so I asked Hermione for the time and she just began to rip me to shreads. It probably didn't help that she told me not to sass her, that was probably one of the funniest things that has happened in a while. Then she got really angry and snippy and brought me down here. Your turn."

"Dumbledore was beginning preparations for the Halloween feast. He's once again stopped the celebration of Samhain, he's hiding candy around the castle for the children to find and he is putting up a ward for the day which prevents everyone from undoing pranks."

"That's dangerous. What about the hospital wing?"

"Only free place and only Poppy and the heads can undo any spells except, they can't undo spells done to themselves or their own house. He is stopping anybody from having any power that day by hiding under the guise of inter-house unity. Be very careful. Collect but do not eat the sweets and be careful of everything."

"It's Halloween… something always goes wrong on Halloween."

"We have sometime to prepare defence."

"But, it won't work with the pranks. On Halloween they include everyone and if you can't undo them, they will only be added to and they can be added by anyone. Also, if nothing happens to me, Dumbledore will get suspicious and call a meeting..."

"We will work something out, I pro-"

"Please don't promise, you're not allowed to break promises and this one will be broken, dad."

"We will get through this."

"Will we though, I mean really?"

"Come here, son."

Harry crashed against Severus' side, crying wholeheartedly. Severus pulled his son close, knowing that he would do everything in his power to protect this boy but, not having any idea how to do it. This was the only time when he felt that Dumbledore was close to winning. He had been close in the past, having a greater power base but, this was ridiculous. He knew in his heart that he would do everything to always protect Harry. He breathed in deeply, inhaling his son's earthy smell before pulling his son in front of him, telling him to go back early and go to bed so, he could come straight to him. Harry had done just that and they spent the night in each others company, taking comfort from each other while soaking in their pessimistic feelings.


	34. Chapter 34

AN: Sorry for the very late upload, my school work sorta piled up so I was finding it hard to find time to actually write this, even though I am at a point I really wanted to write! My uploads are probably going to be erratic for the rest of the academic year as I have mocks to look forward to, but, I will try and upload when I can. Once again, I hope everyone enjoys the story and that they are enjoying their December whether they are celebrating or not!

* * *

Harry's detentions on the weekends were a mix of gloomy and heart-warming. Snape had managed to get all of Harry's friends, who were 'in the know', in detention and for the weekend, he mock threatened them and gave them all tearful glances when he thought they were not looking. He was once again losing those he loved and he cursed Dumbledore so harshly within his mind. The man who destroyed his relationships as a child had now succeeded to destroy them again, now that he was an adult. As he brewed while the children talked, he glared bitterly into his potion, jumping when a tiny hand was placed on top of his own that had been clenching the table.

"I think I finally understand hate."

Snape turned his head and sadly gazed at the boy who was now his child. He was sad that Harry had had to learn this at such a young age. He unclenched his hand from the table and cradled Harry's hand within his own and smiled sadly at the maroon headed boy.

"I'm sorry that you have had to learn hate so early in your life."

"I'm not."

"Why, child?"

"Because then I wouldn't understand."

"What?"

"I wouldn't understand why people do the things they do to each other."

"Most of that isn't hate though."

"But, some of it is."

"How have you become so insightful?"

"Don't worry, I won't be soon."

"Do NOT joke about that!"

Everybody went silent immediately, hearing both what Harry said and how Snape had reacted. The reality of their situation crashed down quite quickly upon all of them as they realised that after tomorrow they may not even act in the same way. Dumbledore was taking away their very personalities, they only hoped that Snape would be able to save them as he would be the only one with a reasonable excuse for taking a draining potion. With the children all facing him with sadness in their eyes, it was all that Snape could do to not crack, he put a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder who was just staring at the floor, undoubtedly feeling guilty, even though it wasn't his fault. All of a sudden, he felt a weight at his side and turned his face to meet a crying Hermione.

"Hermione?"

"I don't want anything to change! You're all m... my first f-friends... I don...I don't want to lose you."

Snape put an arm around Hermione and held her as she let out all of her sadness. The boys stood there shocked, not used to their female friend breaking down. Soon Harry broke out of his reverie and hugged Hermione with all of his might.

"I promise I won't forget you, Hermione. After all, if we did forget each other, you'd probably still hit me, even though neither of us would know why."

Hermione laughed shakingly at her friend, what he said had helped her a bit. He accepted what was going to happen but, she knew that Harry never broke his promises. She gripped him tightly, desperate for some sort of comfort. Harry smiled softly and hugged his friend, tears leaking out of his eyes, hoping that this wouldn't be the first promise he ever broke. Once he was sure that Hermione was fine, he looked to his Godbrother, knowing that this would be the worse change. Hermione released him and pushed him forwards, giving him a teary smile showing her agreement. He gave her a small nod and ran to his brother.

"Promise me, no matter what happens, when this is all over that we will look back and laugh."

"You sound like an old man, Harry."

"An old man? Why must you wound me so, Drae?"

"This is going to be the end of our friendship for a while, isn't it?"

"You saw it too?"

"Yes, well, I'll see you on the flip-side, Potter."

"You can bet on it, Malfoy."

The two boys smirked confidently at each other, their eyes betraying their personas. For the rest of the afternoon they sat unusually close to each other, working over their potions. They had been a constant in each others lives since the age of two. Suddenly separating after nearly a decade was scary for both of the eleven year olds but, Dumbledore didn't care about that.

As they continued their afternoon, thoughts were running through each of their minds until Harry suddenly yelled, "Josh!" They all turned to him in a matter of confusion but as quickly as they turned, the realisation dawned on their faces. Hermione's cousin and Harry's best friend was going to suddenly hear nothing from either of them and not know why. Then, depending on how long it took to solve everything, he wouldn't see either of them in the holidays like they planned.

"Can me and Hermione go and see him, dad? It might be the last time for a while..."

"Yes. I'll tell Minerva that you got an urgent letter from your adoptive letter and as everything is legitimate, you have to go and take Hermione with you. However, you can only be half an hour at most due to your curfew."

"Okay."

Harry turned to each of them and saw that they agreed with him. Smiling in thanks, Harry and Hermione got ready to leave and waited for Snape to run divergence for them. When he returned, he ushered them quickly into his office and they flooed to Spinner's End. Harry turned to his adoptive father every now and again, drinking in his features, having no idea that Snape was doing the same to the boy he considered to be his son.

"So, Sev, what do we tell them?"

Snape looked down at the now red-headed boy and was easily sucked into his memories of another time, before his friendship had abruptly ended with Lily. He smiled sadly with nostalgia in his eyes.

"The truth."

"And, what if they can't handle it?"

"They are just going to have to. If it is too bad though, we may have to obliviate them and tell them that your school is in quarantine as there is a magical disease that temporarily affects eidetic memory and that you caught it badly on Halloween. They would understand that with your luck."

"Cursed Potter genes..."

"You have no idea how much I have uttered that same sentence."

Shaking his head in exasperation, Harry followed his adoptive father, holding Hermione's hand tightly, as if she was about to wander off in the wrong direction. He gave her a supportive squeeze and smile, having no idea that his expressive green eyes were once again betraying him. This show of emotion calmed Hermione as she understood that she wasn't the only one scared. They rang the door bell and were quickly admitted, greeted by eager hugs as their friend saw who arrived. As tear landed on Josh's shoulder from Hermione, he looked to the three guests and suddenly felt petrified. He looked into the eyes of his best friend, seeing that he was also crying.

"Harry, why don't you and Hermione go and talk to Josh in the other room while I speak to his parents."

Josh's eyes widened a fraction as Harry obeyed silently, begging Josh to follow him. Josh was dragged by his subdued cousin and he never felt more scared in his life. The moment they were in the next room, Harry hugged him with such might that they nearly fell over. He was quickly released, a red colour dazzling on Harry's cheeks.

"What's going on, Harry?"

"They're going to make me forget you."

"WHAT?"

"They-"

"I heard what you said but, I do not understand how or why."

"You see, in the magical world, I'm a celebrity for surviving an in-survivable curse but, for some reason, the headmaster of my school wants me to act a particular way and the way I have been acting doesn't suit him. I was supposed to be in Slytherin, I have friends in every house and I have not followed any of his plans being a lot smarter than he wanted me to be. He wants me to be a saviour for something I don't understand."

"But, that's mental. That can't actually happen can it?"

"He's already done it to the school staff. The only way dad got away is that the words 'mandatory' staff meal convinced him that he was going to be dosed with something. For once his paranoia served him well. Could you imagine him coming home and not knowing why I was there and hating me?"

"Hating you?"

"That's what he was supposed to do according to Dumbledore's plans."

"But why?"

As Harry was about to answer, Hermione cut in, surprising them both.

"Because he is a meddling old fuck who doesn't know when to keep his bulgy nose out of other people's business!"

While Josh looked at his cousin in shock, Harry simply pulled her into a hug and looked Josh directly in the eyes while Hermione faced over his shoulder.

"I'm still going to keep my promise from before term."

"How are you going to keep your promise, Harry? You won't even remember it, or me."

"Do not underestimate how seriously I tkae my promises. I promised to Hermione that I wouldn't forget her and I will stand by that promise."

"HOW, HARRY? JUST HOW DO YOU PLAN TO DO THAT?"

"Well, if he's going to play with my mind. I will just have to leave a lot of notes, everywhere."

"People can chuck notes."

"Not the amount I'm going to leave. Everything that I own will remind me in some way."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that everything will be okay."

"I can't do that."

"You're not even going to try and twist any words?"

"No."

"Will you be back for Christmas?"

"No."

"Easter? Summer?"

Josh looked at his friend and saw the despair in his eyes as Harry tightened his hug around Hermione. They stared at each other as Hermione regained her composure and decided to tell her cousin bluntly how it was.

"It's like a game of chess really. We're all pawns to Dumbledore but, Harry's the bishop. He has a power that only two others have but, Dumbledore needs him to be dependant on his every wish and with high belief in Dumbledore's way of running things in the so called lightside. From tomorrow onwards, neither of us will act the same and we may not even be friends. Harry will probably be in some sort of rivalry with Draco, his work ethic will decrease, he will start to hang out with who Dumbledore decides and he will no longer be living with Snape. He will... He will be completely be erased."

"But, someone... someone must be able to stop him. He can't have all this power, he is just one man."

"He defeated the last Dark Lord, he's the headmaster of the most prestigious magic school in Britain and he is part of the leading body within our parliament. He is called the leader of light and all magical children know his name within Britain."

"But, can't you just go home for the day? You won't be affected."

"A group of friends all going home at the same time then returning to a school where everything is different? He'll cause some sort of accident, say we have to be quarantined... He has all the power at the moment..."

"But, how will you get out of it?"

"Severus."

"You're placing all your faith in him?"

"He's the only one who we can trust and the only one who has an excuse to take a flushing potion."

"It's just..."

"We know. That's why we came to say goodbye. Not forever, just for now. We'll see you again."

Harry nodded, a smile lighting up his face as he looked to his friend.

"At least you'll be rid of my bad jokes, I nearly got killed for one of them earlier."

"What? Why?"

"You know my bad Halloween luck?"

"It's a little hard to forget."

"I said I was sorry! Anyway, we created a game out of it in our Common Room and someone asked me, 'what if Snape gets down on one knee wearing McGonagall's granny nightie and confesses his undying love for you?' Well, it was something like that. Anyway, I answered talking about how me and Snape had been spending so much time together in detentions and that the couldn't get enough of my company when I said that I would call the fashion police because if anyone goes from overgrown bat to Scottish granny, they need arresting. What I didn't know was that McGonagall was standing behind me, pissed off from the staff meeting she was just in and that we were so loud that we had amassed an audience outside of the common room! I may have gotten a fortnight's detention..."

"You ginger idiot."

"I wondered when you'd comment on my new do. Don't you like it? I was told that I looked absolutely spiffing."

"From who? The Scottish Granny?"

"No, just yo mamma."

Hermione and Josh groaned while Harry was peeing himself with laughter. Not knowing that once again, a teacher had entered the room without him noticing.

"Do I need to tell Minerva that you are calling her a granny again?"

"Eek."

"Did you just 'eek'."

"No, I had something stuck in my throat you see, it was a cough so manly that the sound barrier could not handle it."

"Of course it was. I'm sorry but, we must go. I don't think we can stay any longer. Minerva is already running interference with us but, I am supposed to be running a detention and I never leave in my detentions."

The children nodded and looked at each other, fear mangling their features. Josh spoke out in a throaty voice.

"What do I tell people? There was an accident at school and that you have amnesia."

"Yes."

"What about you, Hermione?"

"I'm going to put a note in my planner and I keep all of my letters in my trunk so, I'll still be writing but, they'll probably sound different."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't know. Professor, can you talk to them?"

"I already have. I'm sorry, children, but, we must be going now."

They all hugged and left, tears staining their cheeks. The walk back to Spinner's End was in silence and once they returned to Hogwarts there were only twenty minutes until curfew. Snape looked at all of the children fondly and bid them farewell as all but Harry and Draco left for their common rooms. He looked upon his adoptive son and his godson as they said goodbye to each other, separating for the longest time in a decade. He wished that he could at least get the antidote done by summer.

"Well, Drae, ready for a rivalry you'll never forget."

"You bet!"

"Your father is going to be so proud; your mother? Not so much."

"Don't remind me. I am not looking forward to the Christmas break."

"I'll probably be staying here, I doubt the home that Dumbledore has lined up for me will be any good."

"True. Well, Potter, I'll see you tomorrow no doubt."

"Of course, you will. You can get rid of little ole me, Malfoy."

"Can't really call you little anymore..."

"See you on the flipside, brother."

"You too, brother."

With that they hugged and both left. Harry motioning that he would be back soon, for them to spend their final night together. A tear drained from Snape's eye as he saw his son leaving those doors knowing that tomorrow morning would be one of the last that he left in happiness. Quelling that thought for all of a second, Snape began to tidy away, waiting for his son to be popped into his private quarters.


	35. Chapter 35

Dear Wonderful Readers,

Thank you for your reviews over the year and I am sorry for not uploading another chapter for ages! I was stressing too much over my A levels to write chapters properly but, now everything has been sorted out. I've salvaged this chapter from earlier in the year and am already half way through the next chapter! If you are anyhting like me and will need to read the story again, I hope you still enjoy it as much as you did the first time ;)

Thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoy :)

* * *

Samhain, or more commonly known as Halloween, started off the same as all the other days had that week but, had a much more melancholic atmosphere. Once Harry had woken, he spent several minutes just staring into the air above him, wishing that he was still asleep and would not have to experience this day. Not only was it the day he had lost his parents, it would soon be the day he lost himself as well. After a few moments, Harry gave up on ignoring the day and decided to greet his dad in his familiarly annoying way.

Severus heard the creaking of the bed that told him his son was up. He heard the mischievous footsteps running towards his door a few minutes later and pretended to be asleep. He would miss this. As Harry burst through the door, Severus opened one eye, glancing at his son enquiringly, before being ran and jumped at. The eventual weight of Harry made his let out a wheeze from his chest, this never failed to make the small boy laugh. Laughter would be needed today.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this wake up call this morning then?"

"My general awesomeness."

"You have been in the lion's den for far too long."

"Oh well."

"Oh well?"

"What's better than a snake in lion's clothing?"

"You have somewhat butchered that saying."

"Oh well."

"Is that how far your vocabulary is going to expand this morning?"

"Oh well."

"Cheeky brat."

He ruffled Harry's hair before making to stand up, aware that his son was coiled around his torso. He loved moments like these but, hated that it had to be in these circumstances. He placed a chaste kiss on Harry's crown before removing him from his body and telling him to go get changed. One pout later, Severus was alone again, wondering how he was going to cope with this loneliness again for the foreseeable future.

Which each were done with their quiet reflection and changing, they met for a quick breakfast, before Harry had to return to the Gryffindor dormitories. Neither wanted Harry to go as it was a final acceptance of what was going to happen. Neither could accept it, but knew they would have to. Gathering the accumulated force of his Slytherin cunning and Gryffindor bravery, Harry stared his adoptive father down and laid down what was going to happen, in quite an adorable way.

"Right. We both knew it would come to this so, this is what we are going to. You will take your normal flushing potion before dinner so that you can record the ingredients of the potion whenever you wake and begin to construct a similar potion. However, as your body is used to the potion, you may need to take a higher dose which will restrict the things you are able to eat. There is a high chance that there will be a flushing potion within the food already, to start a new ground of manipulations for Dumbledore. You will not fight him. You must fall asleep and you must obey him."

Harry stopped to level his adoptive father a glare. Previously, he had been pacing with his hands clasped together behind his back, occasionally making a wild gesture. Severus was proud of his son's ability to be a true leader and in that moment knew that he had raised him well. He tugged the corner of his lip up and nodded at Harry to continue, after a look of indignation swept over the eleven year old's face, he continued, ignoring the chuckles from the elder man.

"You need to construct the coot's potion first to then find the counter. I know you are going to ignore me but, at the first chance you get, free Draco from the potions. You can use Draco to aid you in constructing the potions. Even under Dumbledore's influence, there will be little change in his abilities and you are his godfather. Following this, free your top potion's students if their ability changes and mass produce this potion, we cannot be the only generation to suffer Dumbledore's mechanisations. It will need to be for public consumption… I will be the last person you free."

"Excuse me? You will not be the last."

"I will as this project will take a long time and has obviously been adapted to suit his purposes several times. You have easier access to your Slytherin's and we know that he has used this potion on me before. The flushing potion won't be enough next time, he would have updated the potion to only need one dose instead of several. Even though you are a great potions master, Dumbledore has years of experience in alchemy, something that he may have adapted to the potion. This is going to be hard but, we will do it."

"You will not be last."

"I will. You are ignoring the fact that this project may take years, we have no idea how far he will go but, I know you would probably be able to complete it by the winter of the next school year by the earliest. That means that I will be hidden away over the summer and Dumbledore will feed on my mind more, completely changing my personality..."

Harry stopped in his plan, his emotions overcoming him as he accepted what he was saying completely. Severus sweeped the boy up into his arms, letting him cry. Halloween had always been disasterous on him but, this, _this_ , was a step too far for even the fates. Albus Dumbledore would pay. He chuckled, confusing his son.

"Next winter, brat? Do you doubt my skills that much? It will be done much sooner than that!"

Harry returned his laughs. His smile bursting through the tears as he challenged his father.

"Sev?"

"Yes, brat?"

"Your ego is showing."

"Ego? That is pure skill."

After a condescending pat on the shoulder, Harry laughed and ran away, knowing that a chase would soon be on. However, before he could get far, he felt an _accio_ drag his robes backwards. Holding tightly to his clothes, he was swept backwards and back into Severus' arms.

"That's cheating."

"No, it's called using your resources to meet my ends."

"Don't worry, next time there will be no 'resources'."

"We will certainly not be doing that again. The last time you were six and I am still mortified."

"Meh."

"That's it, I'm sending you a dictionary for Yule!"

Harry collapsed in giggles, just in time for a very sad house elf to arrive. As they acknowledged her presence, they both sobered up. Harry wrapped his arms around Severus' waist, giving him a bone-crushing hug before braking away and taking the elf's hand, knowing that if he didn't leave now, he never would.

Harry was returned quickly to his bed. He elf giving him a sad smile before leaving him to express his emotions in true solitude. He began crying, expressing true sorrow but soon pulled himself together. Losing control like this is what Dumbledore wants. It is what he thrives on. He pulled himself together in anger, wiping the tears from his face and opening his curtains to face the day. If he was going to loose something this day, Dumbledore would know his displeasure. He left his dorms and walked into Fred, George and Lee's room.

"Get up, arseholes!"

The three blearily woke up, turning their focus on him before floundering at his language. Yes, Harry swore but, he was never this angry, this early in the morning. Surely nothing could have annoyed him yet. He smirked at their confusion before pulling out the book that would surely gain their attention, the prank book.

"Oh, Harry..."

"...we thought you'd never ask."

Lee looked between the three and decided to go back to bed. He would cover for them later. All the teachers knew that Lee was their alibi but, without anyone else willing to talk to the teachers against them, they had no basis to punish the twins for most of their pranks. He sighed as they left, knowing that whoever had annoyed Harry was not going to have a good day.

"It's Halloween."

The twins suddenly knew why Harry was in this mood. They vowed he would always be their little brother but, today, they were avenging their true brother before having to protect the manipulated one. They each gave him a one armed hug, squeezing him in the middle. He gave them small smiles before they continued on, down to their common room.

"What's the plan, Harrikins?"

"We can't wait to show our true expertise to the school."

"Well boys, why not go out with a bang. Something so beyond what they expect of us that they will have to acknowledge our superior knowledge and just who they are targetting."

"Well, aren't we vindictive this morning, Mister Potter?"

"The essence of revenge does paint you quite nice, Mister Potter."

"Well, Messers Weasley, if you are quite done, I think the main hall needs a little remodelling, don't you agree?"

As Lee walked into the common room an hour after they left, he couldn't help but shiver at their disappearance, knowing that today would be bad. Not for him, oh no, but, everyone else, excluding a select few would be wanting their heads on spikes by the end of the day. He made his way to the main hall, knowing that he had an alibi to cook up.

Harry and the twins were already eating breakfast when Lee arrived, as he sat down, Harry left, giving him a smirk on the way past. He felt his heart fall into his shoes, he had somehow aided them and created the perfect alibi for Harry by simply walking in. He would be off to get Hermione and the rest of his friends so they did not miss breakfast and if they were a little longer than normal, the blame would be on Ron. At least his job was done for him today.

Once everyone was seated in the hall, an explosion occurred, making Dumbledore emit yellow and black stripes, like a warning sign. However, nobody knew that that was simply a cover for their true 'prank'. Harry was sore about not being given a chance to be in Slytherin it seemed and asked the sorting hat to help with his prank. Each student now had the insignia of their true house on their uniforms and would only be allowed to go to that house's lessons and common room for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately, dinner was compulsary.

Cries of indignation spread throughout the hall alongside smiles of quiet triumph and sorrow. For today, everyone was in their true houses and would have to adapt to it.

The teachers questioned the change in the students' uniforms, wondering how the pranksters decided how each would change. Once Severus saw the snake on his sons uniform, he knew that this would be a day of revenge and that a simple change in uniform wasn't going to be the only effect that they had planned.

He was proven correct when his first class tried to enter. Some passed through the doors effortlessly however, some were barred entry due to the house on their robe. He was once again proven correct when Hermione walked into his classroom, second period, alongside others with the Raven insignia and the badger insignia. She looked both pleased and exasperated at the days events and knew who to blame.

"Miss Granger, stay after class."

She nodded and stayed. Waving her new, curious classmates on.

"I assume Harry is behind this?"

"You would assume correct."

"I would also assume that you are happy being in Ravenclaw even though it is only for today."

"Yes. It's quite bittersweet. I like being in a house with Harry but, I know I should have been in this house."

"Enjoy your day then. If you want entry to Ravenclaw tower, you must answer the riddle spoken by the door knocker."

The girl's eyes lit up with the challenge as she rushed off to find the tower and try to gain entry. Her high curiosity had let her blend in as a lion however, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was the epitome of Ravenclaw. He decided it was time to see his snakes, knowing that there would be several additions, some more favourable than others.

He went through the short cut in his office to the snake pit and swept a careful eye over the common room. Where there had mainly been purebloods before, the common room was now dominated by students he knew to be either halfbloods or muggleborns. He smirked at some of the faces pulled and then caught sight of Harry, talking animatedly to Dracoc and the Weasley twins.

"A prank that put everyone in their rightful houses for the day, forcing them to live like their true selves for a day? How did you get the hat to help you, Mister Potter and Mister Weasleys?"

Instead of looking shocked, Harry turned around with a smug smile on his face, giving him a wink before launching into an improbable speech about overcoming hardships and becoming who he always believed himself to be. However the sniggers he gave showed his true opinion on what he was spewing.

"I asked the hat."

"You simply asked?"

"Yes. He was quite fed up you see. The hat sees everything that Dumbledore does and he knows that Dumbledore was using legitmacy to interfere with the sortings so, I asked him whether he would like to help me with my day of revenge. He answered yes, knoing what was going to happen tonight."

"I see. Well, in that case, welcome to Slytherin. I will spare you the usual induction as I don't believe many of you are going to remember it tomorrow. But, when this is all sorted out, I shall give it to you someday."

He sent a gentle smile to Harry before turning to walk back to his office. He paused hearing loud footsteps approaching him, followed by arms encompassing his legs. He smiled and placed a single hand upon Harry's head, tutting as he put an arm around Harry's shoulders.

"You are getting too old for this, Harry?"

"But, not as old as you, Sev."

"Touche. I think you have some explaining to do though, everything sppoken in here can not be repeated to anyone without a snake badge, it is one of the rules of the Slytherin common room so, do not worry about the headmaster raping their minds."

Murmurs and gasps filled the room at the secrets they were being told. Some itching to write down everything, not forgetting the warning about them forgetting too quickly. He noticed this and couldn't help but think how improved the school would be if they allowed the children to go where they flourished, instead of where an old, senile man wanted them for his greater good. He gave a final squeeze to Harry's shoulder before making to leave.

"It won't matter what you write down, you won't believe your own accusations come tomorrow morning."

He'll let Harry deal with this outbreak of tempers. He chuckled as he walked away, knowing that he would probably pay for this at a later date.

Never mind a later date, at lunch, the next prank was unleashed onto the school. In an explosion of potatoes, the enchanted sky changed to a near nude picture of Dumbledore. Though keeping it PG, for the more innocent children with a purple robe covering mother nature's gifts, you could clearly tell the intention of the picture, especially when looking at the message underneath the picture. Severus was asking himself why he had let Harry watch Titanic as he read, 'Paint me like one of your French girls, Sev' underneath the sickening picture. He sent a glare towards his table, especially once the fireworks began.

The afternoon was not much better. Harry, having a rather pleasant day, was spending most of his time with Draco and the twins, attending classes with the other Slytherins and was constantly wearing an easy smile, instead of the forced one he had been wearing quite frequently. Severus, on the other hand, was waiting to get vengence of his own upon the twins who would be in his final lesson of the day, right before dinner.

The twins walked in with easy smiles and walked over to what Gryffindor had always dubbed the Slytherin side of the classroom. As the rest of the class walked in, it didn't fail to amuse him on how many of his snakes were supposed to be in Gryffindor. He did believe that most of the tension between the two houses was due to their parents expectations of them being in Slytherin and the hats simultaneous belief that they were Gryffindor were making them act out against the house, in fear of what would have happened if they had been placed there. Redirection of their fears, usual for children, making Slytherin become the house of expectations rather than the cunning.

He decided to disrupt his lesson plans and teach the class how to detect if someone was putting a pranking potion in their food. The look of betrayal on the twins' face was only covered quickly with the challenge that was now presented to them. He knew they would attempt to find a way to overcome these preventive potions but, for today, whatever they had planned would become void, forcing them to up their game.

His thought had been right about a third prank, he supposed that three was quite a magic number, as he saw his son and the two pranksters huddled together in the common room, taking advice from the other Slyhterin's in the room, especially his godson. He walked closer, deciding that he would help them in a final act of revenge.

"You're actually going to help us pull a prank?"

"As long as that image of Dumbledore has been removed, I think I will be fine with helping."

"Okay, we'll ask the house elves to stop the enchantments."

"The house elves?"

"Their loyal to the school, not the headmaster and they do not like what Dumbledore is forcing them to do"

"I did not know that they could control that particular enchantment?"

"Well, have you ever asked?"

"I don't believe I ever thought to. I assumed the headmaster had the final say in the enchantment even though the house elves would have indefinitely more control over it."

Being given a raised eyebrow from an eleven year old amused him, the clear disdain on his sons face helped him to crack a smile, simultaneously scaring some of the students away. He laughed and enquired to their plans once more before bringing up several points that they may have failed to see.

"You can't do anything potions based seeing that the food will be dosed tonight also, you should not sit at the Slytherin table tonight. I know you must sit at your house table for dinner however, seeing that most people have a different house today, I feel that you can get away with it. Spend one final meal with your true friends. I will implement this prank, giving you all an alibi for tonight."

He picked up their plans and strode towards the Great Hall, knowing he had work to do. He laid the enchantments and laced some runic work around some stones he had picked up from the Black Lake before entering the hall, pretending to read a potions magazine at the table. He felt the effects wash over him and glared at all those who entered, attempting to laugh at him while not even considering their own predicament.

Everyone appeared as what muggles believed magical folk looked like. People became hunched over with warts and green faces, only encouraged by the inability to speak in any other structure than Shkaespearean sonnets. Many were quite indignant at the changes however, when they looked at their headmaster who was dressed as an old hag, they knew that they had gotten the better end of the bargain. After a rather loud dinner with the mixed tables, fireworks were set off once again by the Weasley twins, reversing the affects on each person by Snape using the effects to remove his enchantments and vanish the runic rocks. It had seemed rather tame compared to some of the other pranks but, they knew that this would only leave the teachers sitting on edge, waiting for something else to happen, which in their books, would be greater than an actual prank.

Everyone laughed about the days events, talking in excited tones with their friends as their insignias turned back to normal and they were restored to themselves. They discussed how the houses had been, destroying some of the rivalries that Dumbledore had created over the years. They were left for a long time to their own devices, chattering about anything and everything they could over a large array of desserts.

Then Dumbledore stood up.

He gave a speech and conjured an umbrella from the tip of his wand, still giving an erratic speech.

Then, for the second time that day, it rained in the Great Hall.

Severus looked to Harry, seeing him fall asleep, muttering, "See you later, dad."

He followed suit, letting the potion take affect, knowing that he would have his revenge later.


	36. Chapter 36

**As always, I apologise that this took so long to finish and upload! I've just finished my first semester of uni so, I'm going to try and get lots of chapters done in my break. Hopefully this chapter doesn't seem too disjointed as I started it two months ago and only finished today! Anyway, happy reading! :)**

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Severus slept in later than normal, his quivering occulmency barriers taking a toll on his usual sleeping pattern. He knew that he was missing something, something that was extremely important to him, and that he had been dosed with some sort of mind potion. Using these two facts, he abandoned his usual morning routine, sweeping into his potions laboratory, manipulating his clothes on the way. Upon entering, he saw that he had already laid some vials out on his desk, showing that he had expected to be dosed with something so, after checking that the potions hadn't been tampered with, he downed each one in quick succession, ignoring the horrid taste. As they took effect, a wave of melancholy passed over him as he realised what he had been made to forget, or rather, whom.

After yelling all sorts of obscenities into the dungeons, even damaging the walls slightly with a lapse of control over his magic, Severus Snape sat down and planned. Even though his sons plan was good, there were still some alterations that had to be made, seeing that he was not sure how the others were supposed to behave now. Giving one last audible sigh, he realised that he would have to use some of his habits from his spying days on his closest friends and allies. He quickly analysed the potion to see how he was to behave and was, once again, left disgusted by the old man. No person should have to act like that around children, but he would have to, for their benefit. He drew the new persona up like a cloak around him, sweeping from his private rooms down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Luckily, it was Friday and he only had three filled periods today. Unfortunately, two of those were going to be spent with his manipulated son.

He decided to not go to breakfast, he knew the crackpot would tell him off for it, but he could not bring himself to care. As he breezed through the breakfast period in silence, he raised his Occlumency to an unrecommendable rate in order to organise his time properly to get his son back. He thought over his class schedules, seeing that both groups were supposed to be brewing, he could use those lessons as breaks and all the rest of his free time today to work out what was in the devilish brew. Deep into his second slice of toast, he summoned the bottle that had his flushing potion in and begun the procedure to see what he had been dosed with. He already knew about the liquid obliviate and the mechanisation of the second potion, what he needed now was the ingredients. As he dipped a sterilised quill into the regenerating liquid in the used flushing potion bottle, he knew that this would take a while.

About half way through his first period teaching, he heard a little bell sound in the distance, telling him that the ingredients had finished being listed. Seeing that it had taken a full forty minutes, he felt disheartened as it was obviously an intricate potion, however, seeing as there may be several different ingredients, he could use his knowledge of the relationships between them to construct a basic process.

His fourth years were brewing, the Slytherins getting on smugly while the Gryffindors seemed to be floundering, something extremely unusual for this class. He then realised how he was being set up, an unapproachable teacher who favours his own students was what he had sensed from the potion, but this was too extreme. He thought he would be favouring those who were good in his class but, this was causing even more segregation in the school than there had previously been. What in Merlin's name was Dumbledore trying to achieve with _this_? Wrapping his shock back up, he directed his insults towards the Gryffindors, hating himself while doing it as there were some extremely capable brewers in this class who were being suppressed by the senile old man.

After that near catastrophic class, he let out an audible sigh at how inept some of his greatest students had become. He was dreading the rest of the year with them under the fool's control. He just hoped that the seventh years hadn't been affected to the same extremes as there were many jobs that now called for having a potions NEWT. Potions were essential to the magic world and by removing the next generation of brewers, the old man was welcoming their damnation.

After a momentary brood, he glanced at the list of potions. It was certainly a complex creation but, he knew that he could crack it. How long it would take, however, would be another question entirely. He turned his head and looked towards his clock, he had a little under two hours before he had to be in public. Groaning, he began to discern what ingredients were in the potion. One of the major problems in his list was that the quantity of the ingredients was not listed, he had never been able to make that adaption work accurately, mostly because several ingredients were often added at numerous different stages within the brewing process. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, tied his hair back at the nape of his neck and got to work.

When two hours had passed, he felt more hopeless than he had since his spying days. The old coot had created something that was a league above complex. This would definitely take him a while but, he could not be beaten, _his_ son had been taken. People should know not to mess with family. Putting a status on his notes, and asking his house elf to make duplicates and store them somewhere safe, he put on his mask and walked towards the Great Hall for a mediocre lunch.

On the other side of the castle, Harry was wandering around the castle with Hermione and Ron. They were arguing, again, over something meaningless, again… He felt like he should but in and try to stop the fight but, he knew from his childhood that it was safer to stay away from things like this, especially as he now had friends that Dudley couldn't take away from him. A sudden wave of dizziness swept over him, this had been happening a lot today, it was probably from the… troll? He wasn't sure but, Madame Pomfrey told him that. After he had woken up with a head injury of course, he was quite suspicious of that but, unlike the Dursleys, he had no reason to be suspicious of these people.

Once they finally got to the Great Hall, the arguing had died down, due to Ron's attention being fiercely drawn away from the young witch by the lumps of food in front of him. After a disgusted hiss, his friends parted ways and went to their opposite sides of the table. Harry dillydallied a little, before choosing to sit next to Ron. He picked up meagre portions, and began to eat slowly as he felt someone glaring at him. When he saw that it was the potions teacher who hated him for some obscene reason, he rolled his eyes and looked back to his plate. Eating a little quicker, as Snape seemed to be in a bad mood today, Harry finished his meal at the same time as Ron had finished devouring the table.

They lined up early for Snape's class, an insistence on Hermione's part, one he couldn't fault seeing that he had already been glared at today. He looked at the door in a questioning manner, wondering what could have happened and why the door wasn't open like it usually was this close to class. His curiosity got him to walk a little closer to the door but, the old saying of 'curiosity killed the cat' kept him from opening the door. The small voice in the back of his mind, telling him that 'satisfaction brought it back' was quickly ignored. There would be no coming back from whatever Snape could do to him.

The class had been a nightmare. Snape hadn't snapped at him or Hermione, which was peculiar. But, the teacher kept on staring at the students and asking them questions to rile them up, it was as if he was testing their reactions. Harry hated it. He felt like he was back at the Dursleys. That he was some sort of experiment for the man. He hated that he was glad it wasn't just him getting this treatment, he never wanted to put someone through what he had gone through, but, the idea that someone could understand… He quickly shook that thought out of his head.

Class ended badly. Gryffindor had lost most of the points they had gained and Slytherin were confused at the strange behaviour of their head, fearing his expulsion. They all left the class, weary, and went to their respective common rooms, confused at the hour they just had with the dour man.

Snape sat back in his office, nursing a tumbler of brandy. The hour had been a nightmare for him. It was obvious that whole parts of the students' personalities and abilities were manipulated to be as the old man wanted them. He sipped thoughtfully, aware that he couldn't drink himself into a stupor. He had work to do. Putting the tumbler down on a coaster, he walked into his private laboratory, ready to try and decipher the recipe of the original potion. He could only wish that it was a batch potion, designed to affect everybody.

First thing he did was cancel the status charm on his notes and cross reference them with the copy he had gotten a house elf to put in a safe. They were identical and neither parchment had any spells placed upon them. A good start overall. He breathed out a sigh of relief and got back to finding relationships between the potion ingredients. There were some obvious relationships but the overwhelming quantities led him to believe that this might not be the place to start. With every common relationship he found, there was one that would counter the original affect. He began to tug at the ends of his hair, a nervous tick from his childhood that he thought he had gotten rid of. However, the stress of the situation was too much. He needed his son back.

After an hour of hair pulling and listing possible ingredient pairs, his floo flared to life, baring the image of his closest, yet most impatient friend.

"I got a rather strange letter from my son today."

"…"

"He seems to have forgotten himself entirely. At least Narcissa is somewhat pleased. He is becoming the spitting image of her uncle and you know how that turned out."

"…"

"I suppose Harry has become the opposite. A mini-James, as it were?"

"…"

"The Gryffindor Golden boy?"

"…"

"One of Dumbledore's little favourites?"

"For once in your life, Lucius, shut the hell up!"

The blond man looked down at his friend, raising an eyebrow in interest. He seemed to consider his friend for a second before nodding, smiling slightly and claiming a chair at the table.

"Good. Use your anger to sort this out. You don't mess with family."

Severus looked confused for a moment and then nodded. Thanking his friend silently. He considered all that his friend had said and realised that the more time he spent stressing and over-analysing the possible outcomes of his failure, he was more or less letting that future happen. He breathed out and lifted his occulmancy shields higher, considering every single word that was said to him. He paused slightly and looked to his friend.

"Narcissa is… pleased?"

"She is glad that he is supporting blood supremacy more as she believes it will stop him from falling in love with that Hermione girl. We know more than you think about what our son gets up to! She loves our son unconditionally but, she would not be as loving towards his significant other unless they were of a more respectful background."

"And, yourself?"

"I'd definitely prefer if he chose someone from one of the purer lines but, if he chose the Hermione girl, I would support him."

"I seem to have underestimate you slightly."

"I am aware, Severus, but, I know things about our Lord that has made me look at things a little differently."

"Such as?"

"That's for me to know and for you to not get killed for knowing."

"Let me guess."

"I will neither confirm or deny anything you say."

"Our Lord is a halfblood."

The slight widening of his eyes, told Severus all he needed to hear. He felt the need to go a step further and present more evidence to the man.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. Born from a muggle and a near squib, yet one of the most powerful wizards of our time. The other powerful halfblood wizards of our era include Albus Dumbledore, myself and Harry Potter. After all, interbreeding does cause mutations and disabilities as proved by muggle genetic studies…"

"You don't think I checked myself."

"Of course, just thought I'd drive the point home further. I've been waiting for this for a while, after all."

"True."

"So, how did you find out?"

"Before he vanished, he left an item in my possession with the initials TMR on it. Naturally, I was curious as to why the object was held in such importance, so I had a peak. There was some heavy spell work on the object that seemed to give off some sort of compulsion… it was most undesirable. Though I admit, I dabbled with the item to know more about it and for everything I told it about myself, it told me something about it."

"That's highly dark magic. Veil worthy. Have you disposed of it?"

"No. Our Lord entrusted it to me so, I shall make a contract with the goblins for housing the item. They do seem to have an area for their more unsavoury clients, for a cost of course. Now, I believe we are here for a different reason."

Severus merely rolled his eyes and continued to list possible relationships, passing them over to Lucius who could see the problem after a few minutes. As many of the effects were balanced and there was such a higher quantity of different ingredients, it would be hard to create a counter potion. The man's brow furrowed a bit as he put the list down. He looked to his friend, now knowing why he was so frustrated with the process.

"I'm guessing you'll be looking into creating triads and groupings next."

"Obviously. Then, it is a matter of comparing the lists to try and discern an order."

"What can I do to help?"

"Pour me a drink. Then go home. This is going to take a long time."

"Let me help. I am quite good at potions, as you know. I can easily help you sort these out. Also, a fresh pair of eyes may do some good."

"Don't you have to go home to Narcissa?"

"It's not just your son affected by this Severus. I will not have my boy return home acting like a pompous idiot. He was raised better than this. The only reason I let him come to this school was because of its reputation and I knew you were here to look over him or bring me to him."

"Noted."

"Now, if you've done with your depressed solo act, move over and let us begin."


	37. Chapter 37

The men worked well into the night, not getting any close to their end goal. Once again, the shear amount of ingredients meant that there were hundreds of possible ways of completing a potion. They had also come across the possibility that it was numerous potions combined but, that would leave the problem of how each potion was so specific to the individual. And then, if it was separate potions, how did they affect each person at the same time as there was only one point of ingestion, that they knew about, and that was the 'rain' from the sky in the Great Hall. As they grew sleepier, they dissolved into a Q&A session into how the potion was administered.

"The food?"

"Possible however, how did he know what everyone was going to eat or sit? People could have easily taken the wrong potion, which would lead to it having absolutely no effect on the individual."

"The sky?"

"Maybe could have held one of the potions… however, it couldn't have been multiple potions as they would have mixed and then have a more widespread affect meaning each child would have multiple personalities forced upon them or, it would be ineffective."

"House elves?"

"They are loyal to Hogwarts not the headmaster. Also, the house elf to student ratio isn't quite equal, meaning the effect wouldn't have been simultaneous if it was."

"Could there have been two showers of rain? As the first made everyone fall asleep when the effects took charge, there may have been another shower of rain."

"I do believe that is the most probable however, one of the potions was based on the individual's DNA so, everyone would have had to be dosed individually."

"Maybe one of the potions was similar to the imperious and made you drink what was in the glass in front of you?"

"Again, the house elves are loyal to Hogwarts, not the headmaster."

"That doesn't rule out the possibility of him owning his own elf, as you do."

"True, but for an affect like this to be completed so quickly, he would have to have used at least twenty elves. Would he have that many? Then again, it may not just be house elves… Many of the teachers here can levitate more than one potion at once but, that would mean the potion could be transported magically… There is a lot of risk in that."

"Are we overcomplicating this?"

"Possibly."

"What time is it?"

"4:57am. We should probably stop here. I don't think we are going to get any further tonight…"

"Same time tomorrow."

"Probably. Though you should probably tell Narcissa what is actually happening, instead of whatever lie you told her."

"Lie?"

"The fact that she isn't here, says it all. The future romance of her son, isn't all she is focused on in his life therefore, she would have been aiding us."

"True but, she needs her sleep, she's not been well recently."

"I'll leave it to you, but on your head be it."

He gave his friend a weary glance and went to bed. It had been many years since he had stayed up all night like that. He tried not to do it while he was looking after Harry as he would not be able to look after the boy properly the next day. He tended to suffer idiocy even worse after nearly pulling an all nightery. May Merlin help those whose essays he had to mark tomorrow.

Waking up without Harry was odd. It was quiet, unpleasantly so. He used to savour these silences in his youth. They were his only escape from his horrid home life and housemates. The pureblood mania had not been any better back then, though his position in the Dark Lord's inner circle had quelled most of the barb directed his way. Putting these thoughts aside, he got ready for another unpleasant day.

With his custom black robes on and a patented scowl on his face, he left his rooms, heading towards the Great Hall for another demoralising breakfast with the manipulative coot. He noticed more changes in his co-workers, the slight tweaks to their personalities coming out more in the conversations about the students. Blatant favouritism, coupled with ignorance was dangerous when dealing with shaping the minds of children. He gave the desired mantra for supporting the vile actions of the children in his house and spoke badly of the other houses. He had never seen Dumbledore look happier. Disgusted, he used the first possible excuse to return to his quarters.

The excuse had been Harry. The behaviour of the Gryffindors' had been rowdy to say the least. The competitive nature between the first year Slytherins and Gryffindors was catastrophic. He did not know what the old man thought would come of this. Sighing loudly, he had walked down past the Gryffindor table, retracting points from Harry, even though Draco had been the clear aggravator, and left the hall.

 _10 points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter._

He hated who he had to be. This inequality was the breeding ground for hate and he was right in the middle. Hated slightly by his house for subjecting himself to Dumbledore and hated by the rest of the school because of Dumbledore's wishes. He hated it _all_.

He rubbed his forehead in a practised manner, hoping to ease most of the stress he had felt in the past couple of days. Of course, it was with little result. He couldn't wait for this day to end. He needed to go back to his research. They needed to check the relationships they had identified yesterday and try to separate them into groups that could create possible potions. It would take a while and that's why they needed to start as soon as possible!

But he couldn't.

He had to keep up appearances or his task would grow harder, courtesy of the old coot.

Instead of heading to his private rooms, he headed straight to his classroom, knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist picking up where he left of earlier this morning! Huffing, he sat down at his desk.

Even though today was a Saturday, his day seemed to be filled with detentions. Planned? Yes. By him? Definitely not. Who willingly places themselves in a room with dunderheads?

After an excruciating day of dealing with insolent brats, he happily headed back to his room. Ignoring the summons for dinner. If he was going to be forced to act like a moody brat, he'll stay in his solitude like one as well!

As soon as he got in, he pored himself a large shot of brandy and heaved a heavy sigh. A third of a day wasted. However, he had been no closer to garnering any sort of relationship, no matter what terms he laid out while inspecting the list. He needed someone to yell/talk the process through with. It would calm him down but also may help him discover something in the process. Smirking, he called out for his most common accomplice.

"Lucius, are you able to come through to help me with the potion?"

"… Sorry, Severus, Lucius isn't here though I'd be more than happy to help you if I can."

"That's alright, Narcissa, I wouldn't want to take you away from anything."

"That's sweet, Severus, truly, but you're not getting away now."

The Floo call ended abruptly with Narcissa withdrawing on the other end. She was being pushy. That was never good. That meant someone was on trouble. He prayed to Merlin that it wasn't him. All the Black sisters were scary in their own rights, but at least you knew what to expect with the other two.

He quickly poured and downed another shot of brandy. Only just managing to hide the glass he had used before his Floo flared back to life.

"I've been receiving the most interesting letters from Draco, as of late."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, he seems to think that it is becoming to sprout of derogatory terms and whine insistently to me about the strangest of things. The obscenest being that Harry is a 'mudblood loving pratsicle'. I would love to know where he got the idea that he should even be writing things that uncouth to anyone, let alone his own mother."

"Well…"

"I don't know what plan you have concocted but, if I get anymore of this nonsense sent home to me, you will be sorry Severus Snape."

"Unfortunately, I cannot promise anything seeing that I don't know what Dumbledore has done…"

"WHAT? The only reason Draco came to this school was because you were there. We had his name down for Durmstrag, even since the terrible propaganda, they call eductation, was fed to us here! What do you mean, you don't know?"

"All I have to go on is what ingredients are in the potion."

"Well what have you been doing with that list?"

"Been sorting it out to try and find different relationships that give the resulting affects that the potion has had on everyone it is fed to. Bt, there are too many."

"What does the potion do?"

"Changes a person into what Dumbledore wants."

"In essence, what would the potion do?"

"It would connect the personality of a person to anothers mind. Similar to the imperious curse. It feeds compulsions and adapt your memories."

"Why can't you use a simple cleanser?"

"I haven't tried. I just assumed that it wouldn't work as I think the potion is blood based."

"Try. Use the cleanser as a basis. Merlin, Severus, use your brain. I cannot believe I have had to suggest you use a cleanser as the basis of your research!"

"Thank you for your help, Narcissa."

"You can thank me by getting me my son back."

"I will."

"Good."

Once she was gone, he sunk down in his chair. In all fairness, he got off extremely lightly there. He could only pray that Lucius had gotten the same treatment. Though for all he knew, the man lay castrated somewhere on a dimly lit sidewalk…

Brushing that thought away from the front of his mind, he focused on the task at hand. In his desperation to get Harry back quickly, he had ignored the overarching need to sort out the purpose of the potion as how could he reconstruct a precise potion without knowing the theory behind it? He refrained from banging his head against the wall as he wrote down his observations. Hopefully, he could identify patterns to know how many potions were consumed on that night.

Different mindsets. The creation of a new one to suppress the old one… The memories weren't removed as that would leave too big a gap in some people's minds and he wouldn't have been able to make the potion that specific dude to the method he applied it to everyone. Of course, the first affect was drowsiness-

Did he dream that night?

The difference between some sleeping potions and others were the effect it had on your subconscious. If he had dreamt that meant it would influence his body into sleep rather than his mind. He quickly searched through his mind, looking for any dreams that he hadn't looked at yet.

There were none.

He hadn't dreamt.

Meaning that one potion had both sent him into a deep sleep and changed his memories… Was this the potion that had the link? It must be seeing that people didn't loose gaps of knowledge, they lost exactly what Dumbledore had wanted.

However… that was around 300 people he would now have linked to his mind. That wasn't possible. The sheer amount of magic that would be keeping even a single bond would affect his core.

It wasn't as if it was new news; Dumbledore was well past his prime and his core was beginning to become more unstable. Therefore, how was it linked to him?

An item? A script? He would need to create a data base to which each person's state would be connected that he could edit. A singular item would not be expansive enough and was susceptible to damage. It must be linked with his mind somehow… his instructions had to be memoris-

His memories.

That clever coot. Dumbledore had simply fed memories into something that held his instructions for each of his new pawns. He had adapted a pensive, after all Dumbledore was an alchemist. His feats with Flamel weren't without backing, or so anyone thought. His knowledge of artefacts could aid him in adapting the pensive to his liking. After all, he didn't know how long Dumbledore was working on this. No one did.

Snape leaned back in his chair, arching his fingers against one another and snorted. A family pensive was known to be passed down and Dumbledore was the eldest. No one could contest his right to it, nor cold they take it from him and his family as he still had his brother around.

The success felt at discovering this means overweighed the fact that he still had no idea how that was even accomplishable. However, it was one step closer and that was all he needed.

Thank Merlin, for Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.


	38. Chapter 38

After his initial pride of discovering the means wore off, he started to doubt himself.

What if it was two potions? It seemed more likely. After all, why would he collect the blood samples. Those would key the potion to an individual and the distribution means would counter that effect. But then again, it could be one potion and Dumbledore could house the instructions with the blood, that way the potion would always be keyed. But blood has a life, it would soon become stale… unless he used a blood replenisher on the sample blood to continue to generate more. All he would have to do is convince the potion that the blood was part of a living body and as magic is based on intentions… he surely would have enough will to do that. He was quite a control freak.

As more ideas blossomed forth from Severus' head, he gathered a long scroll of parchment and began to jot down ideas in the form of a spider diagram. He would burn it after, of course. Dumbledore would never be able to find it, and he would never let anyone know that he had used that plebeian method from muggle primary school!

In the space of two hours, he had summarised his diagram into about five ideas. He would discuss them with Lucius… when he became available. Or, he could risk asking Narcissa… that seemed to help last time. This is when he needed his son. Though he was still learning, it was easy to bounce ideas off him as he gave quite imaginative responses, which would usually spark a more logic retort in his own mind.

Looking down at the sheet, he felt the urge to continue but, also knew at the back of his mind that he wouldn't be able to achieve anything more productive today. He read over the scroll thrice times and then succumbed to calling an elf for an evening meal. Looking at his clock, he had passed dinner quite a while ago. He would be called up for that. He didn't care. He knew he should though, as if this was anything but a game of appearances anymore.

An elf brought him a tray of food with a rather haughty expression. It seemed that he wasn't eating enough by their standards. He rolled his eyes and tucked into the food, once again rolling his eyes when the elf disappeared with a smug little nod. It was probably at the rate he was eating it, he would admit that he was quite hungry.

Drinking the tea afterwards, he felt himself begin to relax and fall into a drowsy state. He begun to feel alarmed, due to paranoia from his recent project, but, then relaxed, knowing that this was natural. After all, this was a slow, gentle affect on his mind, rather than the intrusive force that the other potion had been.

Absentmindedly leaving the saucer on the table, he walked to his bedroom, quickly changing before collapsing on top of his bed clothes. Once again, an annoyed elf came to his rescue, popping the covers on top of him after a general cleansing spell. Intrusive little buggers. He muttered a thank you before heading to the land of Morpheus.

Waking up the next morning wasn't pleasant. On one hand it was Sunday and his day was completely empty, however, the emptiness in the dungeons once again hit home for him. It was the same as when Lily and himself had parted ways in fifth year, she was surrounded by people in her house while he was left alone. She deluded and he still living in truth. She dead and himself alive. He would not let history repeat itself. Harry would survive.

He trudged down to breakfast, preparing a cover story about not wanting to see dunderheaded students yesterday before sitting down at the table, close to Minerva. Her expression looked incredibly pinched today. Her expression frequently changed between confused and blank, an unusual combination for the Scottish witch. He hoped she was somehow fighting the potion, but he wasn't sure how she could be.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall, how has young Harry been fairing in your house as of late?"

Usually she would not allow this talk in the Great Hall, due to the presence of the students, but after a moment of consideration, she answered him. He felt disheartened at her answering before attaching himself onto the fact that she had lingered. He was not the only one that noticed, Dumbledore had frowned momentarily.

This he could use.

"I don't know why you would need to ask, Headmaster, the boy thrives on his popularity and flaunts it to his house, letting them boost his immeasurable ego as the lions are only happy to."

He was keeping McGonagall in his peripheral as he spoke. The confused expression came upon her face before becoming dazed over again. He smirked as he turned to the elder witch.

"Confused, Minerva, we wouldn't want your mind to become addled this suddenly in your older age."

The outraged look on her face was betrayed by the understanding in her eyes. Of course, anyone with the will to complete the Animagus transformation would have the will to battle a potion. However, her will could always be helped along by a cleanser, or maybe a touch of Legimancy.

To his surprise, Filius suggested just as much. He was not sure of the half-goblin's intentions but, his expression showed that he knew something was up.

It looked like there were soon to be more players in this game.

Filius' heritage would also aid his resistance to potions. To ignore that the concentration on the potion must be higher was an ignorant mistake. One Dumbledore seemed to be making. He smirked at the witch, riling her up to agree, which she did.

However, Dumbledore seemed too pleased with this turn of events. Was he welcoming a challenge, he shouldn't know was there, or was he truly amused by the confusion in his heads of houses. He brushed his gaze over the hall, falling on Palmona. What had he changed in her? It didn't seem to be a lot. She met his eyes and gave a slight nod. She seemed unsure but willing to try something. Had the old coot looked over her as well, or had she also been using a protective force to aid her that day.

This could be interesting. If he and the other heads of houses could get together, they could appeal to Hogwarts to help them thwart the headmaster. Call it a mutiny, if you must. It was ancient magic woven in by the founders to democratically remove the control the headmaster had, if all four found him to be undeserving of the power of Hogwarts.

Letting a low rumble sound in his throat, he quickly finished his morning brew and swept back to the dungeons, levelling a disdainful glare across the hall. To create further commotion in his wake, he called back a taunt to Minerva over his shoulder, just before the doors shut. It would be just the thing the Slytherins would now be looking for to report back to their parents.

"I'll happily check over your mental facilities, Professor McGonagall. I'll owl you a time and date."

With his robes billowing behind him, he planned to do just that. He would owl her when she had the first year Slytherins and Gryffindors, this way both his god children could report his appalling behaviour to someone… He must clean his rooms up, he had a feeling that Narcissa would be visiting again. She was rather fond of the no nonsense teaching of McGonagall, though she would never let her old teacher know that, of course. One must not freely give compliments, unless it works in their favour. That is not the Slytherin way.

His Sunday was rather unproductive. Due to the massive information influx yesterday, today he had to refine his ideas and sort out methods to test. Suffice to say, it took a while. As he lay out what he needed to do, he saw that this theorising would take a fortnight at least. A fortnight well spent, he thought.

Harry knew it couldn't be Snape. He didn't know how he knew this, it just couldn't. However, the other two had had the idea planted firmly in their minds. With Ron, the distrust of the man was to be expected but, Hermione's unwavering belief that it was the man, got him to go along with their plans.

It had been a few days since that Halloween where they had knocked out a troll. If he were honest, he didn't remember it that much, nor did he have the amount of injuries that he expected. Was this the true power of magic? As he thought along this path, he barely noticed that his friends were dragging him to Hagrid's house.

Once they arrived, the rather large man let them in, beaming the whole time. He was always happy to have guests. It saddened Harry that more people didn't visit him because he was genuinely nice. Then again, anyone who put a pig's tail on Dudley AND brought him a cake would always be a great guy to him. He smiled up at the larger man, patting Fang on his way past towards the inedible scones.

The whole meeting was used to try and squeeze information out of Hagrid. Harry didn't like this. He didn't want the poor bloke to get in anymore troub-

 _Anymore?_ Harry stopped in his tracks. What did he mean by anymore? He had only known the bloke for three months. Was it just a slip of the mind? No. His instincts had never failed him before and his mental commentary was based off of his memories… What was going on?

As he grew more panicked, a low alarm started to go off in Dumbledore's office. The headmaster chuckled as he gently readjusted Harry's thoughts. Convincing him that it was the slip he had first thought it to be. After all, people should follow their primary instincts.

The old man felt the bond calm. He couldn't let this pawn go, it was much to precious. After all, he was the prophecy child, destined to bring the downfall of a dark lord. He would just make sure which one it was.


End file.
